


History Rewritten

by creativewoman88



Series: The History Chronicles [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Blood, Canon Typical Violence, F/M, they are vampires after all, very light dom/sub overtones in chapter 11
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-08-20 12:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 168,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20227840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creativewoman88/pseuds/creativewoman88
Summary: History Rewritten is the sequel to Rewriting History, which is part one of the History Chronicles. We have Katherine and Klaus and Elijah and all the drama that comes from them. How does Rebecca change the outcome of Season two or does she change it at all? If you haven't read the first part, this one won't make sense at all.





	1. Chapter One

Everything was wrong. The founder's council had used some device to incapacitate the vampires in town and then had proceeded to lock them up in the basement of Grayson Gilbert's old doctor's office.

Damon had been caught; Anna had been caught; the tomb vampires had been caught. Then John Gilbert had set fire to the building and Damon had been inside.

Rebecca and Stefan - with the magical assistance of Bonnie - had helped get Damon out. However, the device that had helped incapacitate the vampires had also worked on the mayor and Tyler Lockwood for some reason that nobody knew.

The mayor had just gone down when the device had started and Tyler had been driving when the noise had started. Caroline and Matt had been in the car with him and they'd gotten into a car crash. Tyler and Matt were okay, but Caroline was in the hospital and in surgery. There was internal bleeding.

That was why Rebecca found herself at the hospital with Matt and the sheriff. Neither was doing too well. Not too long ago, Stefan, who had been with her at the hospital, had been called away by Elena. Elena had come home from the Founder's day parade to find Jeremy asleep in his room, a half a bottle of pain pills gone. A small vial of blood had been found in the bathroom, empty. The red stains on the inside of the tube had been a giveaway.

Rebecca had wanted to go with Stefan to check on Jeremy and Elena. Both Jeremy and Elena would need her if Jeremy had become a vampire. She hoped Jeremy didn't become a vampire - he was moody enough as it was. He didn't need to feel out of control anymore than he already did.

But she couldn't leave. Matt and Liz needed someone there that wasn't completely broken up. Rebecca had taken it upon herself to fill that role.

The doctor came out and spoke to Liz about Caroline.

"How is she?"

"Uh, it's not good news," the doctor said. "There were some complications. Her bleeding is very extensive."

"Oh, God!" Liz sobbed out, a hand coming up to rest over her mouth.

"Now, we're doing everything we can."

Matt put his arms around Liz and she grabbed his arms like they were her last link to life.

Rebecca felt a fire begin in her throat as tears formed in her eyes. God, Caroline could die tonight. She could . . . she could . . .

God, where was Damon! If he were here, he could heal her. Rebecca would've done it herself, but she didn't know if she had enough self control yet.  
\----------  
When Stefan got to Elena's house he found her waiting on the stairs for him. She grabbed his arm and led him upstairs to Jeremy's room.

Jeremy was awake and sitting on the bed looking depressed.

"What happened?" Stefan asked. He knew the basics - pain pills, overdose, vampire blood.

"He said that Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills, and now - I mean, he looks fine, but then again so do you, so I - I don't know."

Stefan knelt in front of Jeremy and grabbed his chin to make the teen look at him.

"No, I'm fine. I feel exactly the same," Jeremy snapped, pushing Stefan's hands away.

"Should I call a paramedic up here?" Elena asked. "What should I do?"

Stefan stared into Jeremy's eyes, looking for some hint of vampirism, some hint of the predator he would be if the blood had worked the way Jeremy had meant it to. There was nothing there.

"No, he's fine."

"You mean I'm not a vampire? Damn it!"

"Don't say that, Jeremy," Elena said. "Jeremy, why would you want that?"

Jeremy stood up and looked at Elena like she was stupid for asking such a question. "Did you hear about Anna? What happened to her tonight. She's dead."

So, that was what this was about. Jeremy had lost someone he loved again.

"Jeremy, come here. Sit down." Stefan gently shoved the teen onto the bed. "I am very sorry about Anna, but it's very important that you listen to me right now. With every passing moment Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you tried to kill yourself right now, you could really die."

Jeremy looked away, but Stefan could see defiance flash across his features quickly.

"Hey!" Stefan smacked Jeremy on the cheek. "Do you understand me?"

"Stefan . . ." Elena said.

Jeremy looked at him, and Stefan waited for an answer.

"Yeah, I understand."

"Good."

Stefan was angry and disappointed in Jeremy. Yes, Jeremy had every right to feel alone because of Anna dying. He could feel upset and hurt about it even. But what he shouldn't do was try and leave everyone else behind - he shouldn't want to shut everything out just so he wouldn't feel pain.

"What about the pills that he took?" Elena asked.

"He didn't take enough to die, so Anna's blood actually cured him of that."

Elena ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "I need to be at the hospital, but -"

"No, go. I'll stay here with Jeremy."

"No, I don't need a baby-sitter," Jeremy said.

"After what you tried to do," Elena started looking at him. "Yes, you do."  
\----------  
"How's Caroline?" Bonnie asked.

Only three people had been allowed back into the ER, and Bonnie had chosen to stay behind and let Rebecca, Matt, and Liz go back. Rebecca had gone back, not thinking about consequences and had immediately regretted it. So many people were back there, and many of them had been hurt and bleeding.

"She's not good, Bon," Matt said.

"What happened?"

Rebecca had already told Bonnie what had happened, but she guessed the witch needed to hear it from Matt - a first person account of what had happened.

"We were drivin' and then Tyler heard this noise and he got - he got, like, this migraine or something, and he lost control of the car and I - I thought that Caroline was fine and then . . . and then she wasn't, so . . ."

Bonnie looked at Rebecca, who narrowed her eyes at the witch. Rebecca could see the guilt play over Bonnie's face, and Rebecca was surprised when she felt no sympathy for her friend. Former friend?

Could Rebecca ever bring herself to trust Bonnie again? Could she be friends with someone who could lie straight to her face about something so important it could have ultimately ended her life.

It was in that moment of indecision that Damon had decided to finally show up. When Rebecca saw him walk through the entrance doors she stood up and walked as fast as possible without running. He had his arms open and waiting for her.

"Damon!" she muttered against his chest. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here. It's bad - really bad. Matt and Tyler are okay, but Caroline is . . . She might not make it. And Jeremy tried to kill himself tonight. I told Elena to keep an eye on him tonight, but I guess it happened before Elena got home. And Bonnie's all . . . things have to change; Damon has to change - and then I growled at her for threatening you, and Stefan had to keep me from actually attacking her and -"

"Hey!" Damon almost snapped. "Stop. One problem at a time and not so fast."

Rebecca explained about Tyler being able to hear the device, how it had given Tyler a migraine and how it had led to the accident. Caroline's side of the car had been hit the hardest.

Then there was Jeremy being an idiot and trying to turn himself into a vampire. Now all those vampire questions made sense.

"Okay, we need to talk," Damon said. "But not here. Where's Liz?"

"In the ER. Um, waiting for news on Caroline."

"Okay, come on."

Damon grabbed her hand and led her back into the ER. Liz was at the nurse's station when they found her.

"Liz. I came as soon as I got Becca's message. Is Caroline okay?"

"It's - they're doing everything they can," Liz shook her head. "I need your help, Damon."

"Sure, anything, Liz."

Liz led Damon and Rebecca off to the side. Rebecca could tell Damon meant what he'd said. He actually wanted to help her. Damon had genuine affection for Liz Forbes.

"Mayor Lockwood is dead," Liz said. "They thought he was a vampire. They put him in the basement."

Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?"

"No, no, no. A mistake was made. I . . . John and Richard came to me tonight and told me what they were planning. The device, the fire in the building. They wanted to use the town as bait and when I said no, John knocked me out and locked me up. And then . . . the mayor . . . they said he dropped like the others when the device went off, but he . . . but he couldn't have been a vampire. I've known the man my whole life."

Damon nodded and Rebecca again began wondering why the device had worked on the mayor and Tyler. What were they?

"Now Carol Lockwood is gonna want answers. But all I can think about is Caroline and - and I'm -" Liz broke off and began to sob.

"Hey, it's okay," Damon said, pulling Liz close. Rebecca had never seen Liz so upset, not even when her husband had left her for a man.

Being around all this grief was making Rebecca edgy. Add that on to being uncertain about Caroline's survival rate, and Rebecca didn't know how much longer she'd be able to take being around these humans - humans that were weak and hurt and bleeding.

"Bonnie, how's Caroline?" Rebecca heard Elena's voice. She caught Damon's attention and gestured to him that she was going to find her friend.

Elena and Bonnie were right by the ER doors and both had the same worried expression on their faces.

"She's weak," Bonnie said. "They don't know if she's gonna make it."

"What? Isn't there something you can do? Like a - like a spell or something?" Elena asked.

Rebecca looked expectantly at Bonnie. Could Bonnie help fix the problem she'd help create?

"She doesn't know how," Damon said, appearing behind Rebecca. "Do you?"

"No, I don't," Bonnie answered.

"No, you don't. Because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that," Damon said.

"Yeah, well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn."

Rebecca glared at Bonnie. "Sop antagonizing him," and then to Damon, "Stop antagonizing her."

Damon rolled his eyes but then focused on Rebecca. "I can give Caroline some blood."

Rebecca nodded, but Elena said, "No. No way."

Damon basically ignored her. How could she stand there looking innocent when Rebecca was right there? Elena was acting like nothing had happened.

"It'll just be enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital. It'll be out of her system in a day. She'll be better."

"It's too risky," Elena said. "I can't agree to that."

Damon whipped his head to the side. "No one is asking you," he snapped.

Elena flinched at his tone. She seemed not to understand why he was acting that way. But before he could explain away his attitude, Bonnie interrupted.

"Do it." Bonnie looked at Elena and said, "This is Caroline . . . okay? We can't let her die." Then to Damon, "Do it."

"I see vampires aren't bad when you want something done and you can't do it yourself," Rebecca said.

"Becca . . ."

Rebecca turned her head away, a sure sign that she didn't want to listen.

"If I do this, you and me, call a truce?" Damon asked Bonnie.

"No," Bonnie said smugly. "But you'll do it anyway. For Rebecca."

Bonnie turned and walked away. How dare the witch use Damon's love for Rebecca against him? He could see Bonnie was going to be a problem. One they would have to remedy in some way.

Rebecca was surprised when Damon grabbed her arm in one hand and grabbed Elena's arm in his other.

"We need to talk. Now."

Once they were in a semi-secluded spot near the nurses station Damon said, "I know this is probably the last thing you wanna do right now, but we should talk about what happened tonight."

Rebecca noticed Damon was talking strictly to Elena and so Rebecca asked a natural question. "What happened tonight?"

"Elena . . ." Damon gave the brunette time to answer for herself. "I was at your house . . . on the porch. We were talking, all cathartic, feelings exposed."

"You were at my house?" Elena asked.

Damon glared at her. "Really? You know I was. You tried to kiss me, Elena. Rebecca deserves to know what happened."

"Okay, I don't have time for this, Damon."

Elena went to go by the other two, but Rebecca grabbed her arm.

"Elena . . . tell me this is a joke . . . Please."

Oh, God, all of Rebecca's friends were becoming backstabbers. How had their friendships come to this? Bonnie had lied and almost gotten them killed. Now Damon was saying that Elena was pulling a Katherine and trying to steal Damon away.

A deep and primal part of Rebecca spoke the word mine. It flowed through her entire being and she knew she would fight to keep this man. Forever.

"Elena!" There were heels clicking on the floor toward them. Jenna. "I came as soon as I got your message."

"Where've you been?" Elena asked.

"At the fire department. I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier. I -"

"No, you didn't," Elena said.

"Yes, I did."

"No, Jenna, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

Rebecca continued watching the back and forth tennis match and she surreptitiously glanced down to see if Elena's necklace was in place. It was, so the confusion wasn't due to compulsion. So, either Elena was lying or Jenna really had told Elena about filling a report - or she'd told someone who looked like Elena.

Katherine.

Crap, Rebecca thought.

"Oh . . ." Damon said; he'd obviously come to the same conclusion. "Mm-mm, you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Elena asked.

"Nothin'," Damon said. "Come find me and Rebecca when you're done. We need to talk, again."  
\----------  
Back at the Gilbert residence, Jeremy had begun to sketch in his book, and Stefan was watching over him.

"So how was Caroline when you left?"

"Elena said she'll call when she finds something out."

Stefan leaned against Jeremy's desk. "Jeremy, why'd you wanna be a vampire?"

Jeremy shook his head and shrugged. "Well, when I heard Anna was dead, it was just . . . it was just too much. You know, I just - I wanted to turn it off, you know, and . . . and Damon said I could."

"Well, Damon's right. I mean . . . you can turn it off," Stefan agreed. "You can turn off the hurt, emptiness, all of it. But it's deceiving, Jeremy. It doesn't last."

Stefan shook his head. Not so long ago, he'd wanted to turn his emotions off and now here he was promoting emotions.

"I mean, an eternity of feeling nothing . . . That's it's own torture. Sooner or later, you have to turn it back on again."

Jeremy seemed to be taking everything Stefan in and accepting it. The teen looked away and swallowed vulnerably.

"Well, if you could be human again, would you?"

"Of course I would."

If he could . . . if he could be human, he could marry Elena, grow old, they could have kids, a family.

"I hate what I am," Stefan admitted. "It's impossible not to. You don't want this, Jeremy. You don't want this."

Stefan heard some keys jingle and a lock click out of place. Either Jenna or Elena were home.

"I'll be right back," Stefan told Jeremy.

He went downstairs and saw Elena at the doorway, only . . . she had different clothes on.

"Hey," he said, still wondering why her clothes were different. "How's Caroline?"

"Not good," Elena said.

Stefan brought his arms up to wrap around her, and her arms came up to wrap around his neck.

"Just what I needed," she whispered.

Then it clicked: Someone had stolen Elena's stuff earlier tonight. This someone. Katherine.

Stefan growled and shoved the brunette away from him, knocking her over the couch and onto the floor. It didn't faze her. She was back on her feet in about two seconds.

"At least I fooled one of you," Katherine said.

Katherine came at him, but Stefan shoved her into a wall. He put an arm over her throat.

"Feel better?" she asked.

Stefan growled again. This woman had ruined his and his brother's lives. To say she wasn't welcome here was an understatement. Suddenly Katherine grabbed Stefan by the arm and twisted until his shoulder dislocated from the joint. He grunted and fell to his knees.

Katherine vanished, but Stefan could tell she'd gone toward the back door, because Elena, Damon and Rebecca were coming through the front.

"Stefan?" Elena said coming to him and helping him up. "W - what happened?"

Stefan saw Elena wince when he popped his shoulder back into place. He saw Damon look around and Stefan knew his brother had figured it out.

"Katherine happened," Damon said.

"Jeremy!" Elena said, racing up the stairs.

Rebecca followed Elena up the stairs; she wanted to see Jeremy too.  
\----------  
Rebecca, Damon and Elena had left the hospital after Damon had sneaked into Caroline's room to feed her some of his blood. Then, when they'd left, they'd told Elena about Katherine.

Katherine, the evil-bitch-monster-of-death, who had tried to kiss Damon. Who had wanted him to kiss her back. Rebecca didn't like it one bit. She wasn't going to play one of her little games with her.

When she saw Jeremy still alive she first hugged him and then smacked him on the back of the head.

"Don't ever do anything like that again!" she said. "What's the matter with you?"

Jeremy looked shame-faced, at least.

Then Rebecca, doing a total 180 . . . said, "I'm so sorry about Anna. I know you loved her."

Jeremy nodded sadly.

"Becca . . ." Elena said softly. "Do you mind picking this up later? I kind of need to talk to Jer alone."

"Oh, um . . . sure."  
\----------  
Downstairs, Damon and Stefan were in the kitchen talking. Stefan had needed ice for his shoulder since he didn't heal as quick as he should. Damon blamed it on the animal diet.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asked, referring to Katherine.

"No," Stefan answered.

"Well, the woman certainly knows how to make an entrance."

"She said she at least fooled one of us tonight. What does that - what does that mean?"

"She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight," Damon answered.

Rebecca came into the kitchen and Damon noticed how she came straight to his side. She seemed worn out. It had been a busy, complicated day.

"You okay?" Damon asked.

She shrugged. "John is dead," she said. "I killed him." She looked up at him beseechingly. "I . . . thought you should know."

So John was dead . . . That was one problem gone. But they had gained an even bigger one.

"Yeah, about that," Stefan said, "aren't we pretty much screwed now? Those files that he has . . ."

"Had. I took his ring, Stefan. He's not coming back." Rebecca shook her head. "And we're okay. I wouldn't have taken the chance if our asses weren't covered."

Diana had made it where John Gilbert had never even existed. They wouldn't be able to identify him with dental records. His files and everything else about him had been systematically wiped off the map.

Damon could see the emotions play out over her face and knew she wasn't happy that she'd had to kill someone. Even if the guy had been a dick. But she was even more worried about what everyone would think once they found out about it.  
\----------  
Elena came downstairs a few minutes later and met them in the kitchen. She'd explained a few things to Jeremy because she couldn't keep lying to him.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked.

"No, I'm not alright. I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better.

"I know," Stefan said. "We all did."

"Katherine was in this house. That means that she's been invited in. What're we gonna do?"

"Move," Damon said, half-serious.

"Very helpful. Thank you," Elena quipped.

"Katherine wants you dead, there's zero you can do about it, you will be dead," Damon said bluntly. "But you're not, so clearly she has other plans."

"Right," Stefan said. "And we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process."

Rebecca knew that was directed at Damon. He was the ornery one.

"What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

Damon didn't know if he should say anything or not because it hadn't been Elena. He should maybe apologize for accusing her of being a manipulative bitch.

"To risk another frown line encroaching on an already very crowded forehead . . . she . . . tried to kiss me."

Damon felt Rebecca's hand suddenly grab his arm possessively. He hadn't known how bothered she'd been until just then. This Katherine thing had shaken her. They would have to talk about it later.

"And you thought it was Elena?" Stefan asked.

Damon shrugged. "She was playing a game. Something she's very good at."

"I remember," Rebecca said softly. "Damon, what are we gonna do now?"

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. If Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it'll lure her out. She'll make a move."

"And then what?" Stefan asked.

"Stake her, rip her head off, something poetic. We'll see." Damon turned to Rebecca. "Ready to go?"

She nodded and Damon led her out by her hand. He knew she'd want to go home because that was where Chelsea was. Robert had taken her home from the parade that night before the device had gone off. And Damon wasn't going to leave her alone that night. He hadn't forgotten that Rebecca was on Katherine's hit list. She'd been sending loose cannons her way for the past few months.

Katherine wanted Rebecca dead.


	2. Chapter Two

Rebecca couldn't sleep. She was at her father's house. After everything that had happened at the parade, Rebecca wanted to be with her family. Well, with Chelsea and Robert, anyway. Damon was there, too. Rebecca's dad still had a "No Sex In The House" rule, but he was okay with Damon staying the night.

But back to Rebecca not sleeping. She'd taken John's ring from him after she'd snapped his neck but before she'd tossed him into the fire. And now she was holding that ring in the palm of her hand and she felt as if the metal was burning a hole into her skin.

She kept hearing the snap as she'd twisted John's neck hard enough to break it. She kept seeing the light go out of his eyes before she'd pushed him down the stairs into the flames.

Unbidden and unwelcome, tears fell from her eyes and she sniffled. Instantly, Damon's hand landed on hers. He'd had his eyes closed, but he hadn't been sleeping.

"Becca . . ."

"Hm?" she grunted.

"Talk to me."

Rebecca knew he wanted her to tell him what was wrong. She really didn't know how to explain it to him.

"I don't know how."

"Start at the beginning," he prompted.

"Okay," she said meekly. "Well, ever since the incident with Chase . . . and when John helped him take Chelsea and kidnap me, I've wanted John dead. And now he is. I killed him. I thought it would make me feel better, but it doesn't. It really doesn't." Rebecca let out a sob. "All I have is this voice in my head telling me that I killed someone. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway. And when Elena and Jeremy find out . . . they're never gonna forgive me."

"That's not true."

Damon knew her friends wouldn't abandon her completely. They may get mad at her for a while, but they would eventually forgive her.

"I didn't think I'd care that I killed him, because I hated him, I really did. But I do care. All I can think about is that I shouldn't have done it, and now I have all this guilt that I don't know how to get rid of."

"I'm . . . I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you with this," Damon said, which wasn't true. He knew how to get rid of the guilt, but he didn't want her doing it. He didn't want her to use her humanity switch like he had; he didn't want that for her. He didn't want her to suddenly not care and then wake up one day and realize she'd turned into an awful person. "I've almost forgotten what it's like to feel guilty about that."

"Yeah . . . I just . . . I don't know how to explain what I'm thinking."

"You?" Damon said, trying to lighten the mood. "What about your word vomit?"

When Rebecca didn't smile, Damon pulled Rebecca closer so half of her body was on his. She had her face against his chest and he held her as her body convulsed with her sobs.

"Hey, what you did was perfectly normal and nothing you should be ashamed of. You're a vampire now. And you're new. If you lose control, it's -"

"But I didn't lose control!" Rebecca muttered angrily. "I was perfectly in control and that's the problem. I didn't snap, and I'm not a Ripper. I knew what I was doing and . . ."

Damon listened as she trailed off. She felt guilty because John's death had been premeditated. And it hadn't been self-defense. Until now . . . she'd never killed anyone without it being to protect herself.

Damon sat them both up and cupped her face so she had to look at him.

"Becca, listen to me. John helped Chase kidnap you, helped put you in a position that would've gotten you seriously hurt had you not known how to defend yourself. He helped get to Chelsea. Doesn't matter if he brought her back or not, he still took her. You had every right to take him out for doing that. Chelsea is like . . . like a daughter and you're a predator now. He was a threat to all of us and, like you said tonight at Elena's, if you hadn't done it, I would have."

Damon saw that Rebecca knew and understood all that. It was just getting her to believe it that was the problem. He hated it when Rebecca cried. It made him feel like he wasn't doing something right.

Rebecca clenched the material of his shirt and whimpered a little.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just a little messed up right now. John . . . and Caroline . . ."

"Caroline will be fine. You know how vampire blood works."

"Yeah, I do. Then there's Katherine, who -"

"You don't need to worry about her."

"Don't I?" Rebecca asked softly. "She took you from me last time, Damon. She can't have you back. I don't care why she's here."

Damon looked at her in shock. "Rebecca, there's . . . She compelled me away from you. You know that. Are you honestly worried about that?"

"She already tried to kiss you, Damon. She . . . she . . ."

"And I stopped her," Damon said. "I will always stop her."

"Good. And . . . I have a confession to make."

"Uh-oh. What?"

"I fed from Ric. He let me feed from him earlier tonight. I know that when a person is willing to let a vampire feed from them it creates a sort of bond and I needed you to know about it. I didn't want anyone else telling you, and I definitely didn't want you to find out accidentally from Ric, so . . ."

Damon pulled her closer. He didn't know what Rebecca expected him to do. He wasn't jealous and he wasn't angry. If Ric had allowed her to feed from him, then it was probably for a good reason. Rebecca must've taken him bringing her closer as a sign of possessiveness, though, because she was quick to say, "He did it to save my life. So I wouldn't get caught."

"I'm not angry, Becca. If he saved your life then I'm grateful. I owe him. But, on a curious note, what kind of bond do you think you formed with him?"

Rebecca smiled a little and Damon felt it against his chest.

"A comfortable one. Like he's an older brother or something. Maybe even a very cool uncle."

Damon began petting her back soothingly. "Good."

"You don't have anything to worry about," she said. "I'm all yours."

Damon pressed his lips to her hair and scooted closer to her - if that were possible - and turned so he could face her.

"You should get some sleep. You've gotta go to the hospital and then you're supposed to meet me at the Lockwood mansion for the memorial thing."

Right. Elena had called her about an hour after Rebecca had gotten home and had told them that Mrs. Lockwood was holding a memorial to her husband the next day. It seemed a little soon to Rebecca, but she guessed Carol just wanted to get everything out of the way.

"I love you," Damon whispered.

"I love you, too," Rebecca returned the sentiment. "I also love that you can say it first now without feeling weird about it."  
\----------  
The next morning Rebecca woke up, woke Chelsea up, and got them both ready. Damon had left already since he had to help Carol with the memorial.

Rebecca arrived at the hospital the same time Bonnie did - Matt was already there; he'd stayed there with Liz all night.

"How is Caroline today?" Bonnie asked.

"Come see for yourself," Matt said. By the tone of his voice Rebecca could tell that the vampire blood had done its job.

Bonnie followed Matt, and Rebecca followed Bonnie. Chelsea seemed a little shy. She wasn't used to the hospital. When they got to Caroline's room, Rebecca smiled because Caroline was fine. She was awake and watching TV.

"Jersey Shore is on," the blond said, sitting up and smiling.

"Care! Care!" Chelsea exclaimed.

"Chelsea!" Caroline exclaimed back.

Bonnie rushed toward her friend and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Ooh, careful. Still a little sore." Caroline's face scrunched up in pain.

"Sorry," Bonnie said, pulling away.

"It's okay." Caroline smiled again. "But they say I'm healing really quick."

Rebecca watched as Bonnie's eyes filled up with tears. Caroline noticed, too.

"My turn," Matt said, leaning down for a brief kiss from his girlfriend.

"Aw, isn't he cute?" Caroline asked. Then to Bonnie, "Why're you crying?"

Bonnie looked embarrassed and Matt slipped an arm around Bonnie's shoulders.

"Oh, Bon," Matt said.

"I'm just happy you're okay."

"We all are," Rebecca said. She poked her sister's stomach gently to get a few giggles out of her. "Aren't we, Chels?"

"Oh, I love you guys."

"We love you," Bonnie said.

Rebecca was glad Caroline was okay, but this did not get Bonnie off the hook for lying to them. They wouldn't be in this situation if Bonnie hadn't lied.  
\----------  
Damon was not having fun. He was basically playing referee between Liz and Carol. Liz had shown up about five minutes ago. She'd said Caroline was fine; she was occupied with Matt and Bonnie and Rebecca.

"I wanna know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband," Carol said.

"I'm looking into it, but you have to be straight with me," Liz said. "Is there any reason Richard was affected by the vampire device?"

"What're you implying? That he was one of them?"

"No, no," Damon said. "No one's implying that."

"Your deputies screwed up, plain and simple," Carol said to Liz. "Which makes you responsible."

"Your husband is the one who helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place," Liz said.

"Liz -" Damon said.

Great, the two women were playing the blame game. And both had valid points. Richard had been the one to help John, and the deputies had screwed up.

"Someone got my husband killed."

"Hey," Damon said. "We're all on edge here. You've suffered a great loss. The whole town has. But we have to stick together, okay? Trust each other. We'll get through this."

Both women nodded at Damon and he nodded back. Damon had meant what he'd said. The town did need to stick together and trust each other. They were going to have a hell of a time getting past the death of the mayor. Damon was going to have a hard time figuring out what the mayor had been, what Tyler was.

Maybe he could get Rebecca to ask for Diana's help again. The woman really did owe Rebecca her life.  
\----------  
Rebecca left the hospital with Bonnie when Caroline fell asleep. Caroline had lost a lot of blood and the vampire blood wouldn't fix that. She had to replenish the fluid on her own.

Outside the hospital, Bonnie stopped Rebecca at her car. Rebecca began putting Chelsea into her car seat.

"Becca . . ." Bonnie said pleadingly. "Please talk to me. I'm sorry I lied to you, but -"

"Don't, Bonnie. I'm . . . I'm just glad Caroline's okay. Please don't lie to me again, okay? At least not about something like that."

Rebecca really didn't want to talk about what had happened because she didn't want to think about it.

After that Rebecca left for the Lockwood mansion with Bonnie following her. Rebecca pulled up behind a black Ford Bronco. Rebecca got out of her car and got Chelsea out of the car seat. She watched Bonnie get out of her car and then she saw the man from the Bronco get out.

The man looked familiar. Brown hair, hazel eyes on the green side, gap between his teeth, surfer boy looks.

"So the black sheep returns," Tyler, who was standing at the door greeting people, said to the man.

"Tyler?" the man said.

"Yeah."

"What happened to you? In my mind, you're 12 years old."

"That's two years older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason."

Mason! Rebecca thought. Mason Lockwood!

He had been fun to play with when she'd been a kid. He had been a great baby-sitter; he hadn't been strict at all.

Rebecca watched Tyler and Mason hug and then she walked up to the two guys and waited for Tyler to notice her. It didn't take Tyler long.

"Hey, Becca."

"Hey, Ty."

"Becca?" Mason said, his eyes wide. "Little Becky?"

Rebecca cringed. "I hate that name."

She hugged Tyler and then Tyler showed her, Bonnie, and Mason inside. Chelsea was shy around Mason because she didn't know him. Rebecca found Damon as soon as she walked in. He was to the side talking with Liz, but he looked her way and smiled a little.

Rebecca smiled back. She was going to help Mason find Carol and then she was going to go talk to Liz and Damon.

"Thank you for coming, Mason," Carol said when they found her. "It's so good to see you."

"You too. I wish I had come sooner. I hate the way I left things with my brother."

"Well, we always think there's gonna be more time, but . . ."

Before Carol could start sobbing, Mason grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. Rebecca gestured that she was going to leave them to it and Mason nodded.  
\----------  
Damon had been watching Rebecca with some guy that was hugging Carol. Rebecca seemed to know him, but Damon had never seen the man before.

"Hey, who's the guy with Carol?" he asked Liz.

"That's the mayor's younger brother, Mason Lockwood."

"Is he on the council? Like John was when he rolled in?"

"No, he's nothing like John," Liz said. "For one, he's not an ass. He's not a believer either. He wants nothing to do with the council. He's too preoccupied with finding the perfect wave."

"Hm. Thanks."

Liz walked away, but Rebecca came to stand beside him with Chelsea. Damon smiled when the girl reached for him, but his heart clenched painfully because he knew that he and Rebecca might not have her much longer. Ever since Chase had used Chelsea against them, Rebecca had become hell bent on doing what was best for Chelsea; the problem was they didn't know if it was to keep her with them all the time or to send her away with Robert when he moved so she would get away from all the supernatural drama. If it was up to him, he'd keep her always.

But . . . with Katherine in town . . . Rebecca might change her mind a million times before settling on what she thought was best.

"How's our baby girl doin'?" Damon asked softly, taking Chelsea from Rebecca.

Rebecca smiled at his antics. Chelsea was happy to be in Damon's arms. Chelsea was giggling and it made Rebecca's stomach clench happily - it was an everything's good clench.

"Who's Mason?" Damon asked.

"He used to babysit me. He was fun."

"He's also a Lockwood." Damon stared at her intensely. "Be careful."

Bonnie, who had politely paid her respects to Carol and Tyler, came up to them. She looked solely at Damon before speaking.

"Did you know the Gilbert device affected Tyler Lockwood?"

"Well, I know it took the mayor down," Damon said. "Rebecca told me the rest."

Damon, with Chelsea still in his arms, walked toward the dining room. Rebecca and Bonnie followed him. There were refreshments laid out on the table. Damon grabbed a grape and Rebecca grabbed a strawberry. When the juice hit Rebecca's tongue she let out a glorious moan and let the liquid roll over her whole tongue.

Damon forgot all about Bonnie when he saw Rebecca's pleasure face. He felt a twitch in his jeans because of the sound she'd made. He felt another twitch when she blushed. Rebecca had obviously realized she'd made a very suggestive noise.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I'm not used to human food since . . ."

Hm. Human food. Whipped cream, honey, melted chocolate. Those three things plus a bed and unlimited time could call for a very fun-filled evening.

"Don't you wanna know why?" Bonnie asked, pulling Damon back to the present. The present where he felt like adjusting himself in his steadily tightening pants.

"Yes, Bonnie, I would love to know why a non-vampire was tortured by the vampire torture device that you let John Gilbert use against us."

Damon picked up another grape.

"Speaking of your guilt, how's Caroline?"

"She's much better," Bonnie said fiercely.

"You're welcome."

"No, you're welcome."

"Why am I welcome?"

"You lived to see another day."

"No good deed goes unpunished with you, does it?" Damon asked.

Damon seemed amused while Rebecca was pissed. Bonnie was always picking on Damon. It made Rebecca super angry. A very low growling sound was coming from Rebecca's throat. It should've been a warning for the witch to back off.

"It doesn't undo the bad. I know what you are, Damon. You might have Rebecca and the sheriff and everybody else fooled, but not me. One wrong move and I'm gonna take you out."

"Now you need to stop with the witch's brew. You're startin' to believe your own press."

The only thing keeping Rebecca in control was the fact that Damon wasn't really threatened by Bonnie. Right now all Bonnie was doing was talking.

"Hm . . ." Bonnie smirked.

Rebecca didn't know what Bonnie was doing until Damon grabbed onto his head and started grunting. If Rebecca hadn't been a vampire herself, Chelsea would've dropped to the floor. Chelsea, having been jolted none too gently, started crying. Wailing almost, it was so loud.

"Bonnie!" Rebecca hissed. "Stop it!"

The predator part of Rebecca was telling her to kill Bonnie. Now. Bonnie was hurting Rebecca's mate and had unintentionally almost caused Chelsea to be hurt.

But . . . Bonnie . . . Rebecca couldn't kill Bonnie. They had been friends since . . . since the sandbox age.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bonnie said sarcastically, sounding smug. "You were saying?"

Damon stopped grunting and holding his head. Rebecca guessed that meant his head was no longer hurting.

"Damon?" she said softly.

"I'm okay."

"Good."

Rebecca, however, wasn't. She was thirsty - her anger had made her throat burn with thirst. It was a thirst, a craving, she'd never had before. It was specific. Bonnie had pissed her off, so it was Bonnie's blood Rebecca wanted. But she wouldn't allow herself to have it. It was still a good thing Bonnie left the room, though, because the witch was a temptation.  
\----------  
Damon had been watching Rebecca struggle with her thirst for the past ten minutes. It seemed Bonnie drove Rebecca's blood lust crazy. The veins were slowly becoming apparent under her eyes. Damon understood her mood completely. Bonnie had been hurting him. He was her mate, her equal. The part of her that was connected to her vampire side wanted to kill anything that threatened him. His predator side felt the same about her.

Then there was Chelsea. If Bonnie had inadvertently caused him to hurt Chelsea, Damon would've killed the witch himself. Damon pulled his two girls closer. Rebecca because he was going to hide her face against his chest, and Chelsea because he'd almost dropped her and he needed to know she was okay.

The little girl gently touched his head where he'd been pressing to try and take the pain away. It was almost like Chelsea knew he'd been hurting a few short minutes ago

"Day," she said, in her baby voice. "Ow?"

Damon grabbed Chelsea's hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss her little baby fingers. He didn't know what was going on with Chelsea, but something was, because no baby was this perceptive. Or he'd never heard of one being like this before.

"Day's okay," he assured her, using her nickname for him. "I'm okay."

He felt Rebecca turn her head and he looked down at her. Rebecca was smiling peacefully now. She no longer looked angry or ready to attack the first witch she happened to see.  
\----------  
"Oh, my God. Damon drives me crazy."

Bonnie had stormed away in a huff after almost making Rebecca attack her. Couldn't Rebecca see why Bonnie was angry at Damon? Rebecca was a vampire now. Damon had turned her into a predator - an animal that would kill to survive.

Bonnie had seen Elena and had headed straight for her. Elena looked at her when she spoke, so Bonnie continued.

"He's walkin' around like he's some kind of hero for healing Caroline and . . ." Bonnie trailed off because she didn't really know what else to say. As far as Bonnie knew, Elena was friends with Damon, which meant Bonnie wouldn't get much help from her.

"Whatever. Hateful Damon moment over."

Elena smiled and Bonnie returned it. Bonnie touched Elena's arm only to get the shock of a lifetime. That cold, death-like feeling she got from vampires was now radiating off of Elena.

Oh, God.

"Um, I've gotta find Tyler. Pay my respects. I'll be back."

"Okay," Elena said, nodding.

Bonnie hurried back inside and dialed Elena's phone. She was hoping the vampire she'd just talked to wasn't Elena but Katherine.

"Hello?" Elena answered.

"Elena, where are you?"

"Bonnie, I know, I'm late. I'm getting in the car now. I'll be there in five."

Bonnie hung up when the line went dead. Elena wasn't there yet, so Katherine was here in town. She wondered if the others knew? If they didn't, she had to let them know. When Bonnie turned around she almost screamed. The Elena look-alike was there.

"We haven't officially met. I'm Katherine."

Bonnie had never understood Rebecca when she'd said you could tell the difference between Elena and Katherine because of their eyes. But now . . . Bonnie understood. Katherine's eyes were cold and held a sort of distant amusement.

"I know who you are," Bonnie said.

"Of course you do." Katherine smiled. "You're the best friend, right? I've been putting all the pieces of Elena's life together. Isobel told me it was a bit of a puzzle. I do know who Jenna and Jeremy are. I've met the delicious ex-boyfriend, Matt, who's sweet on Caroline. And then there's you. The vampire-hating Bennett witch. Did I do good?"

"You missed one," Bonnie said, backing away toward the door.

"Oh, yes. Rebecca. Vampire Slayer turned vampire. How's that working out for her? Is the guilt eating away at her yet? It will, you know. Slayer's are born with an annoying quality called good intentions, which, of course, is magnified now that she's a vampire."

"Rebecca doesn't kill humans," Bonnie defended her friend.

"Really?" Katherine smirked. "What do you think happened to John Gilbert? Ask her what she did with his ring."

What? No. Rebecca wouldn't have killed John. She didn't kill people.

Bonnie went to run, but Katherine ran in front of her. Bonnie gathered all her strength and sent a burst of magic towards Katherine's brain. She imagined Katherine's blood vessels going pop over and over again.

Katherine grabbed her head and started groaning. It lasted for about five seconds and then Katherine was fine.

"I've been around a long time, Bonnie. You're gonna have to do better than that."

Suddenly Bonnie was pressed up against the wall, Katherine holding her there by her throat. Reacting instinctively, Bonnie made the door open so Katherine couldn't do anything without exposing herself.

"Nice," the brunette complimented.

"Katherine," a male voice said.

"Stefan."

"Leave her alone," he said firmly.

"Okay," Katherine said easily, letting Bonnie go.

Bonnie watched Katherine walk past Stefan and then Stefan followed the lunatic.  
\----------  
Stefan had arrived at the Lockwood mansion a few minutes before and he'd heard Katherine talking to Bonnie. He'd known it wasn't Elena because Elena hadn't even left her house yet.

Katherine had had Bonnie against the wall, choking her. But she'd let her go when Stefan had told her to.

"What're you doing here?" Stefan asked, following her to the refreshment table.

"After the way you treated me last night I thought a public place would be less violent."

Katherine grabbed a glass of red wine and took a sip.

"You're takin' this a little far, don't you think? Elena could walk in at any moment."

"Mm, but that's part of the fun, Stefan. Damon's here, somewhere. I've been avoiding him."

The brunette picked a cherry from a batch of the fruit and would've eaten it had Matt not walked up to them.

"Hey, guys," Matt said.

"Hi, Matt."

Stefan was surprised that Katherine had slipped into Elena mode so easily, but she sounded exactly like her.

"I, uh, heard that Caroline's doing much better. Her recovery was practically miraculous. You must be so relieved."

"I am," Matt said, nodding. "Thanks, Elena."

Matt walked away, probably going to find Tyler, and then Katherine dropped the Elena act.

"Oh, his eyes are so blue."

"You need to leave now," Stefan said firmly.

"You're hurting my feelings, Stefan," Katherine sing-songed. "Though, to be honest, Damon wasn't that happy to see me either. Then again, he thought I was your girlfriend, so . . ."

"Katherine, I'm not doing this with you."

"Okay. How about we don't have a couple's fight in front of your friends? Walk with me."

"Just tell me what you're doing here."

"Maybe I missed you." Katherine sounded sincere, but Stefan knew she was a master liar. "Is that an acceptable reason?"

Katherine was so different from Elena. Elena had confidence, yes, but Katherine . . . she was dripping with conceit. She was over confident. If Stefan were to look up vanity in the dictionary, Katherine's picture would be right beside it.

"What game are you playing?"

"Why? You wanna play with me?" Katherine asked, grinning, smiling genuinely. Humor was very apparent in her eyes.

Stefan was reminded of why he'd fallen for her charms in 1864. She had a very likable personality when she was in a playful mood.

"I don't know," Stefan said, deciding to play along. "How can I play if I don't know the rules."

"No rules, Stefan. Don't you remember? No rules."

Katherine walked around him and stopped at the entrance. She held her hand out for Stefan to take. Stefan looked at her and shook his head. He walked past her without attempting to grab her hand. All he was thinking was that he had to get Katherine away from everyone. If he upset her, someone innocent would pay the price.  
\----------  
"Looks like the whole town has turned out," Jenna said.

Jeremy, Jenna, and Elena had run into Rebecca, Damon, and Chelsea, and they were talking near the entrance of the Lockwood mansion.

"Yeah, well, he is . . . he was the mayor," Elena said.

"Why don't they save it for the funeral?" Jeremy asked.

"It's what people do," Jenna explained. "The Lockwoods were there for us when we went through this. And it'll be quick. We'll drop off the food, pay our respects, go."

"In and out? Sounds like a plan."

Jenna, who had some kind of casserole in her hands, went to place the dish on a table, and Jeremy went off on his own. Rebecca really wanted to follow him so she took Chelsea from Damon and went after her friend.

Elena had stayed behind to talk to Damon. Damon, who looked a little guilty.

"Hey, how're you doing?" she asked.

"Great, Elena. Walkin' on sunshine. Thanks for asking."

"Damon . . ."

"Elena . . ." he mimicked.

"We should be able to talk about this. Damon, we're close enough now. I really wanna know how you're doing."

She looked up at him with big brown eyes and Damon wondered how in the world he'd thought Katherine had been Elena the other night. Their eyes were so different.

"Okay. We talked, you tried to kiss me. Or I thought you tried to kiss me. Doppelganger high jinks ensued. How do you think I'm doing?"

"I think that you're hurt," Elena said bluntly. "I think you thought I was betraying you and Rebecca."

"I don't get hurt, Elena."

"No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and you cover it up and then you do something stupid."

Damon wondered why they were having this conversation. Elena hadn't been the one to try to kiss him, so he didn't really understand her place in it. Unless . . .

"You're scared," he accused. "You think Katherine's gonna send me off the deep end, don't you?"

Elena didn't answer, so Damon figured he was speaking the truth.

"I don't need her for that," Damon said. "And why - why is it such a surprise that I thought you would kiss me?"

Elena stared at him blankly.

"I've taken you to a dance, Elena. And . . . taken into context that I thought it was you making the moves the other night . . . a lot of stuff that's happened in the last few weeks took on a different meaning."

"Oh . . ." Elena nodded. "I, uh . . . I guess that makes sense. But I'm with Stefan, Damon. I . . . I wouldn't have . . . and even if Stefan weren't in the picture . . . I would never hurt Rebecca that way."

Damon knew that now, but he hadn't known Katherine was back at the time. He couldn't have known that Elena wasn't the one on the porch. Now that he knew Katherine was back, he needed to find out why she'd been trying to kiss him in the first place.

Was it just a game, or did she want something from him?


	3. Chapter Three

"So, I'm liking the new leather jacket," Rebecca told Jeremy as she walked with him down the hallway of the Lockwood mansion.

"It was my dad's," Jeremy said. "I stole it from the closet."

Rebecca smiled sadly. "I don't think anyone would care."

They came upon Tyler, who was sitting in the study drinking from a flask. Well, if there was ever a day to drink . . .

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about your dad," Jeremy said.

Tyler nodded bitterly. "Today's been a big day of sorries from people who really don't give a crap."

"I remember when my dad died I had a house full of strangers tellin' me what a great guy he was. Anyway, I know how hard all this is."

"Difference is, in your case, it was true," Tyler said. "My dad was a dick."

Tyler took another swig.

"Yeah, yeah, he was," Jeremy agreed.

"I found this in his desk." Tyler offered them the flask and Jeremy grabbed it. "He won't mind, he's dead."

"Yeah, you know what? Sure. Why not?"

Things were comfortable until Mason came in and asked what was going on.

"Nothin'," Tyler said.

Mason took a sip from the flask too, which was cool. Rebecca had thought they'd be in trouble - all of them were underage after all. Even if she was a vampire, she was still only eighteen, and Mason didn't know she was a vampire, so he would still think of her as an underage human.

Then Rebecca noticed something off about Mason Lockwood. He . . . smelled funny. Not human, but . . . Rebecca couldn't place exactly what he did smell like. It was just odd.

"So . . . when did you become a mom?" Mason asked Rebecca. He had a smile on his face so Rebecca was fairly certain he was joking.

"She's my sister," Rebecca specified. "But sometimes I feel like her mom."

A few minutes later Rebecca got a text from Bonnie saying Katherine was there at the mansion. Rebecca almost rolled her eyes. Of course Bonnie wouldn't hesitate to call a vampire if she needed help. She texted Bonnie back and said she'd meet up with her in a minute. If Bonnie had met Katherine and was alive to text, then it was obvious that Katherine didn't mean the witch any harm. Yet, anyway.

"Jer, I have to go."

Jeremy looked at her strangely. She smiled at him reassuringly; someone would explain it to him later.  
\----------  
"The Lockwoods have a lot more land than they used to," Katherine said.

Stefan walked with Katherine across the Lockwood estate. He wanted answers; sometimes that meant doing things he didn't want to do. Like talking to a homicidal vampire who was also his ex-girlfriend.

"Possessions of all the tomb vampires brought them all a fortune."

"Yeah, and why did you want them dead? You're the one who turned most of them."

Katherine scoffed. "There's nothing more annoying than a vengeful vampire. Just ask John Gilbert." Katherine covered her mouth with a mocking gasp. "Oh, wait, he's dead."

"You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"But you have. You're stronger, meaner. Sexy."

"Don't flirt with me Katherine. I'm not Damon." Stefan glared at her. "And I haven't spent the last 145 years obsessed with you."

"Yeah, based on your choice of women, I'd say otherwise. Though I'll admit it does bother me that you've fallen in love with someone else."

"Oh, I was never in love with you, Katherine. You compelled me, so none of my feelings were real."

"Believe what you want, Stefan. But I know the truth. And deep down, so do you."

Katherine giggled like a schoolgirl.

"The truth? Well, the truth is you're the same lying, selfish, manipulative bitch you've always been. So whatever it is that brought you here . . . why don't you just get on with it and leave town? Because if you don't, I will hunt you down and I will rip your heart out."

Katherine looked hurt; her lips were even quivering. Her eyes were glistening.

"You wanna know why I'm here, Stefan?"

Stefan nodded.

"I came back for you."

"Well, the problem, Katherine," Stefan began, "is that I hate you."

"You hate me, huh?" Katherine suddenly grabbed a metal spike and shoved it into his stomach. "That sounds like the beginning of a love story, Stefan, not the end of one."

She pulled the spike out and then Stefan fell to his knees. He watched her walk away. She was going to leave him there to writhe in pain.  
\----------  
Rebecca decided to drop Chelsea off with her father. If Rebecca ran into Katherine, there would be a fight. Rebecca didn't know who would win, but there would definitely be a confrontation. And either way it ended, Chelsea didn't need to be there to see it. No one so young should witness violence of any kind.

Rebecca was out by the pond now because she'd gotten a text from Damon, who'd gotten a text from Stefan, stating that Katherine had attacked him. Elena was there already and was cleaning a wound on Stefan's stomach. Rebecca grimaced because the wound looked bad.

Damon had gone off to track Katherine - Rebecca hadn't leaned that yet; Damon had yet to teach her.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. I'll heal."

"That's not what I meant."

Stefan shook his head. "I was trying to figure her out. I was . . . playing along. I let her get to me."

"Tried to track Katherine, but she's gone," Damon said, coming back. When he saw Stefan with his shirt up and Elena cleaning the wound he said, "Ew, cover up, Fabio. We got a crazy ex on the loose. Better watch out," he told Elena. "Looks like Katherine's tryin' to steal your guy."

"Yeah, well," Elena said, not missing a beat. "Stefan's not the only one she wants. She tried to kiss you, Damon."

"That's not what's happening," Stefan said.

"Isn't it?" Damon asked spitefully.

"I'm gonna go check on Jenna and Jeremy," Elena said. She seemed uncomfortable. "Let me know when you guys are done."

Elena grabbed her purse and stalked off. Rebecca would've gone with her, but she really wanted to know what Stefan and Damon were going to say.

"Katherine's gonna try to play us against each other, you know that, right?" Stefan asked.

"Brother, don't worry," Damon said with mock sincerity. "Our bond is unbreakable."

"We need to stay united against her," Stefan stood up and stared at Damon.

"I thought Elena tried to kiss me," Damon said.

"I know," Stefan admitted. "And as much as I'd like to kill you for that . . . I'm not gonna fight you. And I'm not gonna let Katherine come here and destroy the part of you that is finally, after all this time, willing to feel something."

Rebecca thought that Stefan was making sense. Katherine would destroy Damon - what Rebecca had helped him become - if he let her. And Rebecca was afraid of that. They had come so far together. She didn't want Damon to go back to how he'd been when she'd first met him.

"She'll try to break you," Stefan said. "She'll try to break us. And how we respond to that will define us. It's our choice. So, no, I'm not gonna fight you."

Rebecca suddenly felt tears prick her eyes. God, what if Katherine did want Stefan and Damon back? What if she was here to mess with her and Damon? And Stefan and Elena? Rebecca would kill Katherine before she let her near Damon again. Katherine couldn't have Damon, not again. Not ever again.  
\----------  
Rebecca left with Elena, Jeremy and Jenna - she didn't want to be around Damon or Stefan, not after the argument she'd heard. Elena had made a good point earlier; Katherine hadn't only gone after Stefan. Granted, Katherine had pretended to be Elena when she'd gone after Damon, but still . . . Why had she done it?

That wasn't the only reason she had gone home with Elena and Jeremy. She needed to talk to them about John, about what she had done to John. Plus, she didn't want the ring anymore. It was just a reminder of what she'd done.

Rebecca had basically dragged Jeremy and Elena up to Elena's room. Now she was suddenly very nervous.

"Guys, I have a confession to make." She looked at them both and she knew they knew this was serious. "I killed John." Even though the door was closed and locked, she whispered.

"What?" Elena asked. "When?"

"Last night. When Stefan was bringing Damon out . . . John tried to stop us, so . . . I killed him."

"Good riddance," Jeremy said. "The guy was a dick."

"Jer!" Elena exclaimed. "Don't say that. You don't mean it."

"Don't I? He's the reason Anna's dead!"

Okay, so Jeremy was on Rebecca's side, at least. Rebecca wasn't sure about Elena yet. One could never be sure about the female Gilbert.

"Elena, I'm sorry. I know he was your biological father, but he was a threat to everyone. Me, Damon, and Stefan included. He helped Chase kidnap me. He knew what Chase would've done to me if I hadn't fought back, and he helped set it up anyway. But the biggest mistake he made was going after Chelsea and going after Damon."

Rebecca knew that John had been taught to hate them, the vampires. Different circumstances it could've been her trying to get the Gilbert device to destroy all the vampires. But for the grace of having had different parents, Rebecca could've ended up like John. Alone, bitter, filled with hatred.

"Becca," Elena said firmly. "You can't kill someone every time they -"

"Leave her alone," Jeremy said. "She was doing what she had to do to protect the people she loves."

"Jer!"

Rebecca felt the tears fall from her eyes and Jeremy was there immediately, wrapping his arms around her. Rebecca hated having arguments where both Jeremy and Elena were involved. Jeremy inevitably picked Rebecca's side and then Elena hated her for a few weeks because Jeremy agreed with her.

"Please don't hate me," she said, her voice muffled because of her face being against Jeremy's chest.

"I don't hate you," he whispered reassuringly.

There was a pregnant pause from Elena, and then Rebecca heard her sigh. "I don't hate you, Rebecca, and I'm not mad. I'm just . . . disappointed. I thought you didn't want to kill anyone."

Rebecca flinched at the word 'disappointed'. Elena didn't hate her, but Elena was disappointed in her. Elena didn't understand that Rebecca was a predator now. It was her instinct to kill someone she viewed as a threat.

"Becca," Jeremy said softly, "come on, let's go to my room."

"Jer . . ." Elena said just as softly.

"No, Elena. All you're doing is making her feel bad about herself." Then more gently, "She's new. She's not going to be able to control herself all the time. I mean, look at Stefan and Damon. They've been vampires for almost a century and a half and they still lose control sometimes."

Once in Jeremy's room Rebecca let loose and sobbed.

"I didn't want to kill him, Jer. You know that, right? I just . . . he couldn't be here and there was no way he could go away, not with the knowledge he had. It had to be done."

"I understand, Becca. You don't have to explain this to me. Okay? I still trust you not to hurt me or Elena or anyone else you care about. You did this for the people you care about."

Rebecca smiled tentatively up at him; he was being sincere.

"I love you, Jer," she said.

He smiled back at her. "I love you too, Rebecca."

"I have something for you," she said, beginning to dig through her jeans pocket. She pulled out the piece of jewelry that she'd taken from John. "This ring. It protects you from supernatural harm. It belonged to your dad. Considering who you hang out with, I think your dad would want you to have it."

She handed the ring to Jeremy, who studied it for a moment. "Ric has one just like it," he finally said.

"Yeah, he does." Rebecca smiled. "John gave his real ring to a girl named Isobel, and Isobel gave it to Ric. Isobel was Ric's wife. John took your dad's after your dad died."

"Why didn't the ring protect my dad? Why is he still dead?"

"What happened to your parents wasn't supernatural. It was an accident," Rebecca said softly. "There's nothing that can save us from that."

"I wonder what he'd think of all this," Jeremy said. "Me hanging out with vampires, trying to become one. Almost killing myself."

"Your dad was a good man," Rebecca said honestly. "And you're still young, still a teenager. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. My teenage life was stolen the minute I found out about vampires. My human life was taken the minute I fell in love with Damon."

"You don't like being a vampire?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I like the speed, the strength. But, no. I have to fight the urge to rip someone's head off if they make me angry. When I'm hungry, I have the urge to tear someone's throat open. I don't like it. The only reason I didn't let myself die when I woke up was because I couldn't leave Damon all alone. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never leave him, not intentionally. So . . . all of this is for Damon, to be with Damon."

Rebecca felt more tears come to her eyes. "I can't tell Damon that. He would only blame himself and I don't want that."  
\----------  
Meanwhile at the boardinghouse, Damon arrived hoping to see Rebecca and Chelsea there. Neither were. He didn't know where Rebecca had run off to. He hadn't seen her since they'd all been at the Lockwood mansion.

He knew Rebecca was feeling self-conscious about Katherine being in Mystic Falls. He didn't know what else he could do that he hadn't already done to make her feel better, make her more secure. He couldn't think of anything he'd done to make her think he'd choose someone else over her, so he didn't know why she felt that way.

Damon poured himself a drink. It would help him mull things over.

Suddenly Katherine was there on the couch. Damon hadn't even realized she was in the house.

"Very brave of you to come here," Damon threatened.

"I wanted to say good-bye," she said.

"Leaving so soon?"

"I know where I'm not wanted," Katherine admitted softly.

"Don't pout. It's not attractive in a woman your age." Damon took a sip of his drink before placing the glass on the table.

"Ouch," Katherine said.

Damon rolled his eyes and started to walk away. He heard Katherine running and wasn't surprised when she ended up in front of him.

"What, no good-bye kiss?"

"Why don't I kill you instead?"

Katherine scoffed.

"What're you doing here?" Damon asked.

"Nostalgia, curiosity, etc."

"I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine. What're you up to?"

Katherine shook her head. "Trust me, Damon. When I'm up to something, you'll know it." She moved closer to him. "Come on. Kiss me, or kill me. Which will it be, Damon? We both know that you're only capable of one."

Damon turned away from her, but she grabbed him and pushed him to the floor. He hit the wood hard and grunted at the impact.

"My sweet, innocent Damon," Katherine purred.

Her hand stayed near his throat but she wasn't actually choking him. Damon reacted to the words Katherine had said because Rebecca used to call him that. She still sometimes called him My sweet Damon.

Damon flipped them over so he was on top. He did choke her. He glared down at her and she smirked up at him. Katherine brought her hands up to Damon's face and yanked him down for a kiss. Damon wasn't used to someone using a kiss as a distraction - he was the one who usually pulled that trick; he may have even invented it - but when he realized what was happening he pushed away from her, letting go of her throat. He got up and put as much distance between them as the room would allow.

That was when he noticed Rebecca standing in the archway of the parlor. She didn't look happy. In fact, she looked down-right pissed.

"Becca . . ." he said. Which part had she walked in on. The kiss, or what had happened before the kiss.

"Aw . . . did the girlfriend get a good show?" Katherine sneered, standing up.

"Shut up, Katherine," Damon snapped.

Rebecca had arrived home to a very bad sight. Katherine had been on top of Damon, on the floor. She'd called him "My sweet, innocent Damon" and Damon had flipped them over. Neither Damon nor Katherine seemed to notice Rebecca had even been there. Rebecca had almost growled at Katherine, had almost gone to the brunette to stake her right then, but she hadn't been able to move. Another part of her had wanted to see what Katherine was going to do and see how Damon would react.

Rebecca had felt her heart stop when Katherine kissed Damon, but when Damon had shoved away from her, Rebecca smiled. He'd done that without knowing she was there. It didn't matter what Katherine wanted . . . because Damon didn't want her back.

Then when Damon had realized she was there he'd said her name so softly, and had looked so vulnerable and scared, like he thought she would blame him for the kiss, but Rebecca had seen Katherine force the kiss.

"Hello, Katherine," Rebecca said. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, I was trying to seduce Damon, but - "

Rebecca growled at the brunette and flashed forward and grabbed Katherine by her hair. She tossed the brunette across the room and onto the floor. Rebecca didn't give her time to get up; She wrapped a hand around Katherine's throat and held her down.

"He's my sweet Damon," Rebecca hissed.

Rebecca's voice was muffled because her face had changed and she had to talk through her fangs.

"You're gonna stay away from him or I will kill you." Rebecca made it clear that she was promising, not threatening.

It wasn't until Katherine tried to move that Rebecca realized that she was stronger than Katherine. Katherine realized the same thing at the same time because her eyes widened and she began to struggle harder to get free.

"Wait a minute," Damon said. "I have a question. I just need the truth. Just once."

Damon had been watching the cat fight getting ready to start and didn't know if he should lend a hand or not. Rebecca seemed to be holding her own fairly well. Damon had been surprised when Rebecca had shown up and he'd been glad Rebecca seemed to understand that the kiss and everything that had transpired afterward hadn't been his fault.

Damon had almost grinned when Rebecca claimed him in front of Katherine. Rebecca had never been the outwardly possessive type but now . . . she was, he guessed. He didn't hate it. As long as she didn't get too out of hand with it . . . he didn't mind it.

"I already know your question," Katherine gasped out. "And it's answer."

Rebecca looked at Damon and then at Katherine. What was going on? Rebecca didn't understand what was happening.

"Damon?"

"Let her up, Becca," Damon said softly.

Rebecca had trouble listening to that particular request because it was Katherine he was asking her to let go.

"Please," Damon said.

She loosened her grip on Katherine's neck, and the brunette pushed her away. "The truth is," Katherine said, looking at Damon, "I've never loved you."

Rebecca still didn't understand why this conversation was taking place. What did it matter if Katherine had never loved Damon? She'd compelled him to be with her.

"It was always Stefan."

To the casual observer, the brunette actually seemed genuinely sorry for having hurt Damon's feelings, but Rebecca didn't think Katherine could feel anything real.

Just as quickly as Katherine could, she grabbed a container from Damon's stash of alcohol and smashed it into the side of Rebecca's face. Rebecca screamed from the glass cutting into her skin, and then from the alcohol going into her wounds; it burned.

"Becca!" she heard Damon exclaim.

Damon watched as Katherine ran away but he wasn't really worried about her; he was more worried about Rebecca. She was holding her face and her hands were trembling. He knew the glass had cut her because he could see the blood, but he needed to know if any of the glass had stuck in her skin.

He knelt beside her and tilted her chin up. He almost growled when he saw that a few pieces of glass were visible from her cheek.

"Becca," he whispered, pushing her hair back. "Don't move. I'll be back."

She nodded agreeably and Damon took off upstairs and got the first aid kit; he needed the medical tweezers from it. When he got back downstairs, Rebecca was still sitting where she had been when he'd left her. She looked like she was in shock but at least she wasn't crying.

"Becca," he asked gently, kneeling down in front of her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She jumped when he touched her and he jerked his hand back. Actually, it looked more like she'd flinched away from him.

"Becca . . ." Damon said hesitantly. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she want him touching her? She had never rejected his touch before.

"Why?" she asked. "Why did you ask her that question, Damon?"

Oh. She was mad at him because he'd wanted to know the truth about Katherine's feelings for him. He'd wanted to know if anything she'd compelled him to feel had been real for her. It obviously hadn't been.

"I just had to know," he said. "I don't expect you to understand, but -"

"Well, good, because I don't."

Damon looked at her and felt his heart clench painfully because she had tears in her eyes. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but it was true that he'd wanted to know whether anything Katherine had told him in 1864 had been true. But it hadn't been. It wouldn't have made a difference, but he could've found it easier to accept if he hadn't only been a pawn in Katherine's twisted mind games.

"Are we not enough?" Rebecca asked. "Is my love not enough?"

"Becca, don't, okay? My question had nothing to do with what I feel. I just wanted to know how she felt back then. I was always curious."

"Why?" she asked. "What were you curious about?"

"About if she chose me to get at you or for some other reason."

"But why does it matter?" Rebecca asked. "She's a bitch."

"I know that!" Damon snapped, yelling. "But it mattered to me. She used me."

Rebecca blinked, confused. Did it matter whether Katherine felt something for him? It wouldn't change anything. Katherine had still used him.

"If . . ." Damon stopped talking. For the first time ever Damon felt he couldn't talk freely to Rebecca. He didn't know how to put what he was feeling into words. "I don't know how to say this. But I needed the closure, Rebecca. I had to know because I couldn't start to get past it until I knew."

When Rebecca didn't speak after that. Damon hesitantly reached over to stroke her uninjured cheek and was relieved when she accepted his touch.

"Now let me help you," he said softly. "You can be mad at me after." He had to admit, though, that he admired that she was ignoring the pain so she could yell at him.

Rebecca nodded at his suggestion and began speaking as Damon helped her. "I'm stronger than her," she whispered. "She's older than me, so I shouldn't be stronger, but . . ."

"Right," Damon said. "About that."

"What?"

Damon spoke and pulled out the glass at the same time. "I've known you were different for a while." Damon seemed relieved that Rebecca had changed the subject. "You're faster than me. I never mentioned it because it never seemed important. It didn't matter to me."

"Hm."

As Rebecca listened to Damon, and as he was getting the shards of glass out of her cheek, she couldn't help but think that it didn't really surprise her that she was different..

"Well, I was a freak as a human, why not be a freak as a vampire too."

"Hey," Damon said. "You're not a freak. You're . . . unique. You were a vampire Slayer, which means you were stronger than a human. That's magnified. That doesn't mean you're a freak."

Rebecca was in a mood so she ignored his response. It wasn't until Damon wiped her face off that she remembered. She'd wanted to talk to him about something.

"Mason's weird," she said bluntly. "He smelled funny."

"He smelled funny?" Damon couldn't stop the grin from forming because of her words, but he sobered quickly. "Are you okay? You never answered."

"I just walked in on the evil-bitch-monster-of-death trying to molest my boyfriend." Rebecca said dryly. "I'm terrific."

"Becca . . ." Damon pleaded. "Please don't start."

Rebecca grabbed his hand and squeezed. "I also saw you push her away. So . . . I'm terrific."

This time she was serious and she seemed to have gotten over her mad spell. Maybe she'd realized how ridiculous it had been. That it didn't matter what question Damon had asked Katherine; he loved Rebecca and he'd just been curious about Katherine.

"Anyway," Rebecca said, redirecting the conversation. "Mason smelled funny."

"So you said," Damon replied, amused. "Funny how?"

"I don't know. I couldn't place the smell. But he didn't smell human, if you know what I mean. Like, he's not someone I'd wanna chomp on. He didn't smell appetizing."

"Well, we know he's not human," Damon said. "The device wouldn't have worked on Tyler and Mayor Lockwood if they were human."  
\----------  
Rebecca had let the Katherine thing go for the night. She didn't want to argue with Damon anymore, not about Katherine anyway. Katherine wasn't worth it.

Before Rebecca and Damon went to bed Rebecca got a call from Elena asking her to come to the school the next day. They were having a carnival there tomorrow and they needed all the help they could get.

"Of course I'll be there, Elena." What with Caroline in the hospital, they didn't have the carnival-planning queen on hand. Rebecca would be needed. "Bright and early, promise."

"Okay, good."

Rebecca didn't know how Elena could have gone from being disappointed in her to wanting her help, but . . . there it was. What Elena didn't know was that Caroline had come to Rebecca a while back asking for her help. The carnival needed an entertainment act, so Rebecca had volunteered herself. She would sing and dance. Caroline had helped choreograph the dances for her.

When Rebecca finally went to bed, she felt a distance between her and Damon that had never been there before. Katherine was going to ruin what she and Damon had if they let her. If Rebecca let her. Rebecca and Damon were basically on separate sides of the bed. The gap between them seemed much larger than just a few feet. Damon had never given Rebecca a reason to think he'd felt love for anyone else but her. Fondness, maybe, for Elena and sometimes even Stefan, but no one else. And she still didn't understand why he'd needed to know about Katherine's feelings for him, but she knew he didn't like Katherine at all.

Slowly, Rebecca inched her way toward Damon and when she reached him she slid her hand into his to intertwine their fingers. She squeezed his hand and tensed until she felt his answering squeeze.

"Are you mad at me?" she whispered. "I didn't mean to make you angry earlier."

"I wasn't angry; I was frustrated. I've never had to explain something to you before. You usually just get me."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No, I just . . ." Damon turned on his side so he could look at her. "I shouldn't have expected you to get it. You've never been used by anyone, never been compelled to think you love that person."

"Well, no, I haven't. But you could explain it to me. Please? So I'll understand."

Damon thought about it. How could he explain everything to her in a way that would make her understand?

"Okay. Hypothetically . . . Imagine me and you before the time traveling spell."

"Okay . . ."

"Back then, before the spell, before us, imagine I had compelled you to be with me, to think you loved me. How would you feel?"

"Angry," Rebecca said quickly, instinctively. "And used."

"Exactly. But imagine wondering whether or not any of it was real. If you found out it was real for me wouldn't it help you forgive me?"

Rebecca stared at him for a few seconds. "You were trying to find a reason to forgive her? If she . . . If you'd found out she'd compelled you for some other reason than her using you against me, you could've forgiven her?"

Damon looked a little uncomfortable. "I could've tried. But she doesn't deserve my forgiveness and she doesn't seem to want it."

"That's because Katherine doesn't care about anyone but herself, Damon."

"I realize that now," he admitted.

Damon began stroking her side tenderly. He watched as she smiled softly and he smiled himself.

"I never meant for her to come between us, Becca. I never meant it that way."

Rebecca nodded and let her eyes flutter shut. "It's not all your fault. I'm just not . . . secure when it comes to her. Because of . . ."

"Because you think she'll keep coming after me," Damon finished for her.

"Yeah."

Damon wanted to remind her that he wasn't the one Katherine had been trying to kill for the last few month, but . . . now wasn't the time. She was really upset about the situation they were in. Reminding her of that particular detail wouldn't help at all.


	4. Chapter Four

Rebecca was at the school with Elena and Bonnie. They were setting up for the annual carnival that Mystic Falls held. It wasn't much; mostly games and arts and crafts booths. But there was going to be a Ferris wheel; swing, and bumper cars. They also had a pirate ship, but Rebecca wouldn't go on that.

At the present time, however, Rebecca, Elena, and Bonnie were talking about Katherine and putting some of the stuffed animals up on the game booths.

"I mean Katherine looked just like you. It was freakish."

Bonnie was talking about meeting Katherine at the memorial for Richard Lockwood. Rebecca agreed with the witch, but she didn't say it out loud.

"She is my ancestor," Elena said. "Hey, I moved the student booths into the cafeteria."

"Your vampire ancestor," Bonnie said, ignoring Elena's change of subject. "And she didn't just resemble you . . . like a family member would. She was you."

"I – I don't know. I can't explain it, okay?" Elena said. "It's creepy. That's all I got."

"Well, how do you know she's not still out there pretending to be you?"

"I don't. But . . . I could sit here and be tortured by the not knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss."

"She came to the boardinghouse last night." Rebecca said softly. "She tried to seduce Damon."

"Hey, can we not talk about Katherine?" Elena asked. "Or anything else vampire-related."

"Copy that," Bonnie said.

Rebecca's brow furrowed. Did that mean she should leave? She was a vampire, after all.

"So, should I leave or . . ." Rebecca trailed off teasingly.

"Becca . . ."

Rebecca knew that Elena hadn't meant it that way so she smiled when Elena rolled her eyes. Elena hadn't really held a grudge over Rebecca killing John. After Elena had thought about if she'd realized she hadn't wanted someone like John in her life anyway. Or in Jeremy's life.

"I'm human," Elena said. "And I have to do human stuff or I'm gonna go crazy."

"Okay. I'm sorry, I'll focus," Bonnie said. "We have to make Caroline proud or she will kill us. I don't know how she does this all the time."

"Well, because she's not human, obviously," Elena teased.

Rebecca laughed because she sort of agreed with Elena. Sometimes Caroline was so efficient, she couldn't be human.  
\----------  
About an hour later Jeremy and Stefan showed up and Stefan went to find his lady love. Rebecca decided to help Jeremy set up the bottle ring toss. She noticed that Jeremy didn't have his vervain wristband.

"Where's your wristband, Jer? You should never take it off. It has vervain in it. It protects you from compulsion and it's toxic to vampires."

"You mean like poison?"

"Yes. If you were to give me vervain it would make me very weak, and it keeps me out of your head."

"Have you ever tried to get into my head?"

"Nope. I respect you too much to do that to you."

Jeremy smiled shyly. "Why vervain?"

"I have no idea," she admitted. "I don't make the rules. I just know to stay away from it."

A couple minutes later Elena came over to relieve them of bottle ring-toss duty. They were on the gold fish ring-toss instead.  
\----------  
While Rebecca was helping with the carnival Damon had his own business to tend to. Carol Lockwood had invited him over and, pretending to be an upstanding citizen, he had come when she'd called.

"So I understand John Gilbert has left town," Carol said, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Yes. Yes, he has," Damon said. "We may not see him for a while."

"Oh." Carol smiled softly. "That brings me to my next subject." Carol put her tea on the table. "With Richard gone, I'll be acting as interim mayor until the elections. And I'm gonna need someone to spearhead the council."

"Oh," Damon said, nodding, not thinking anything of it.

"I'd like that person to be you."

Damon smiled softly and said. "Whatever you need, Carol. As a founding family member, it's something that's close to me, so I would be honored to help keep this town safe from vampires."

A few seconds later Damon heard two men laughing in the front room. Damon and Carol were in the sitting room, so Damon guessed the two men had just come in the front door.

"Oh, Geez." Damon recognized the voice as Tyler Lockwood.

The other man must've been Mason. Not that Damon could tell, because Carol closed the door to the sitting room.

"Is it safe to talk?" Damon asked quietly.

"It's my brother-in-law, Mason. He's still visiting. I just don't want him to hear us. He didn't want any part of the council when he lived here and I see no reason to bring him into it now."

Damon could still hear the conversation that Tyler and Mason were having.

"What was that, like, seven?" Tyler was asking.

"Six," Mason said. "I don't count the last one. You crawled it."

Damon assumed Mason was talking about running. He guessed the two Lockwoods had been exercising or something.

"What?"

"I think Grandma Lockwood actually passed you in her walker," Mason teased, laughing.

"Yeah, okay," Tyler said. "Shoes off. Mud. My mom. Not a good combination."

"Yeah, sure." There was a pause and then Mason continued. "So all this anger and aggression you were talking about . . . You notice the difference when you exercise?"

Tyler scoffed. "Dude, I played varsity sports. I work out four times a week and I run three. I'm gonna say no."

"You have episodes? I mean, what happens exactly?"

"Starts out normal. I mean, I get angry, typically over nothing. I'm an angry guy. You know, it amplifies and then I just go off."

"You black out?"

"Yeah. It's like I go blind with rage."

"Is there a pattern? Like, once a month? Only at night?"

"All I know is I lose myself. You know? For that time, I become something else. And I hate it."

"More tea?"

Damon snapped out of it and accepted the offer of more tea.

Damon had listened to the whole conversation between Mason and Tyler. It had sounded like Mason knew from experience what Tyler had been talking about. Maybe Mason had been experiencing the same symptoms.

All Damon could think of when he'd heard about the anger issues and becoming someone else was that the Lockwoods must've been related to the Incredible Hulk in some way.  
\----------  
When Damon got home Rebecca and Stefan were already there. Rebecca was pouring herself a glass of blood and when she saw him she grabbed another glass.

"Hey," she said. "Carnival's all set up for tonight."

"Good," Damon grinned. "Guess who's the new leader of the Council."

Rebecca smiled. She knew automatically, but she wanted to play with him. "I don't know. Is it . . . Liz?"

"Nope. Guess again."

"Carol herself?"

"Nope."

"Give me a hint." She gave him pleading eyes.

"Okay. He's got dark hair and blue eyes. He's very good-looking. Dashing. Gorgeous. Irresistable."

"I'm sorry, Damon, but I don't know anybody like that."

"Oh, really?" Damon smiled because of their little game. "Well, maybe I should introduce you to him. I know he'd love to meet you."

"Oh, but I'm already taken, Damon," she said with mock-innocence.

Rebecca handed Damon the glass of blood she'd poured for him and then looked at Stefan, who was looking amused and disgusted at the same time.

"Would you like some?" she asked seriously. "We can help you with your self-control."

"No. Thank you. Not hungry. Just ate."

"Aren't you worried that one day all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back?" Damon asked. "I mean, surely they talk."

"I'm just happy that that's a blood bag and not a, uh, sorority girl supplying your dinner."

Damon smirked. "I like this. You . . . walking on eggshells around me because you think I'm gonna explode. It's very suspenseful."

"Have you heard from Katherine?" Stefan asked them.

Damon didn't answer Stefan. He just changed the subject.

"I think the Lockwoods have a family secret. Because the Gilbert device affected them but vervain didn't. So they're not vampires. They're something else."

"Is this your new obsession?" Stefan asked.

"Oh, you'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant in our town. Fine. I'll drop it."

"Uh, no," Rebecca said. "We won't. I can't allow that. Whatever they are, they could be a threat to us, to everyone. We keep on this until we find out what they are."

Damon smiled smugly at Stefan. "The lady has spoken."

"We haven't seen the last of Katherine. You do know that, right?" Stefan asked. "We have no idea what she's up to."

"Sure we do." Damon scoffed. "She came back to confess her undying eternal love for you. So I'm gonna let you deal with her. Because I have more important things to do like explode."

"Right, well . . . before you do that . . . I need to talk to you," Rebecca said. "About Chelsea."

Damon immediately grew serious. He forgot about teasing Stefan because Chelsea was more important than making fun of Stefan.

Rebecca went upstairs and Damon followed her. When they reached their room he closed the door and gave his complete attention to her.

"What about Chelsea?" he asked.

"What're we gonna do?" she asked him. "Since Katherine's here? I mean . . . I can't tell my dad that there's an Elena look-alike running around, let alone that she's a vampire. I . . . I'm not home a lot because I live here now and he could invite her in without knowing."

Rebecca had been thinking about that lately. She couldn't tell Robert without fear of him telling the council, and no one needed the council searching for an Elena look-alike vampire. Elena would end up getting killed.

"Well, then . . . we should keep her with us." Damon said. "We never wanted to give her up anyway."

"Yeah, I know, but . . . Katherine can get in here, too, Damon. I should've killed her last night when I had the chance."

"Well, we'll figure something out," Damon said. "We always do, don't we?"

"Yes," she said after a brief pause. "We do."  
\----------  
"The ring toss is out of Bart and Homer dolls and Team Jacob T's," Bonnie said.

"Okay," Elena said.

It was around eight o'clock and the carnival was in full swing. People seemed to be having a good time. Rebecca had come with Damon, and he was around there somewhere, but she had found Elena and Bonnie pretty fast. They three were in charge of telling people what to do. Rebecca could only help for so long, though, because her set of music was coming up.

"I'll grab some from the science club," Elena said, adding to her earlier comment. "We lost a speaker for the stage performance, too."

"Hey," Bonnie said gently. "It's all good, Elena. Take a beat, look around, this is a huge success."

"You mean I can do more than wreak vampire havoc?" Elena asked, pretending to be shocked.

"Go figure," Bonnie said.

Rebecca smiled as Bonnie and Elena began laughing. She loved when she and her friends could just laugh and be together without drama interrupting their lives.

When they walked past the ticket booth they noticed a black guy with a tool belt around his waist.

"Hey, uh, Carter, right?" Elena asked, and the guy nodded. "You're with the carnival?"

"That'd be me."

"Okay, great."

"Wow." Carter looked at Bonnie. "What d'you need, beautiful?"

"Ah . . .um . . ." Bonnie smiled bashfully. It was like she'd never seen a guy before. "What d'you know about speakers?"

Carter chuckled. "Why don't you show me the problem?"

"Yeah, Bonnie. Show him the problem," Elena teased.

Bonnie rolled her eyes but she nodded at the guy anyway, and he followed her.

Elena and Rebecca grinned at each other because of Bonnie's antics.

"I thought I was shy," Rebecca said, amused.  
\----------  
Damon had been walking through the carnival – all in all, it had been done artfully – when he came upon Jeremy Gilbert.

"Aren't you little too old for a high school carnival?" Jeremy asked, paying for the bag of popcorn he was getting from the snack stand.

"About a hundred-and-fifty years too old," Damon answered, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bag even though it wasn't his.

"Oh, you're pretty funny cracking jokes when I could, I don't know, blow the whole lid off this whole thing by telling someone what you really are."

Damon swallowed the popcorn and then grabbed Jeremy by the back of his neck.

"Okay, please tell me that that is not a threat."

"Maybe it is," Jeremy said, holding up his hand for Damon to see. There was a ring on it; John's old ring.

"Becca," Damon muttered. "You know about John."

"She killed someone because of you."

"Oh." Damon suddenly had Jeremy in a headlock. "Here's what we're not gonna do. We're not gonna walk around like we're invincible when it's this easy for me to end you."

Jeremy coughed and Damon let him go. The teen turned to glare at him.

"If you wanna tell people what I really am, go ahead and try." Damon held up the ring that Jeremy had had on and that Damon had yanked off his finger without the boy noticing. "I will shove this ring so far up your butt you'll really have something to choke on."

Damon flung the ring at Jeremy's face and watched as the piece of metal hit Jeremy in the face. Then he walked away. Rebecca would be performing soon and he didn't want to miss a minute of her show.  
\----------  
Rebecca was at the activity center where the concert was going to be held. Elena was there too because Stefan was helping with the football throwing booth.

"Nice little shindig, huh?" Damon said from behind her.

Rebecca turned around and smiled. "Hey, you're just in time. I was getting ready to go change."

"Mm. Did you know Jeremy blames me for John's death?"

"What? He knows you didn't do it."

"Yeah, well, he blames me anyway. I'm the reason you killed him."

A ding interrupted their conversation because the football throwing thing was over. Now it was time for arm wrestling. Tyler was competing against one of his teammates and was winning.

Rebecca noticed that Damon was staring at Tyler with curiosity.

"You're staring," she said.

"I'm observing," Damon corrected.

"More like obsessing," Stefan said, butting into their conversation.

Rebecca watched as Tyler easily beat his first competitor.

"He's got strength," Damon said.

"Well, I could've told you that," Rebecca said, not unkindly.

"He's a triple-letter varsity athlete," Stefan added. "Of course he has strength. You're reaching."

Mason came up to the arm wrestling table and sat down across from Tyler. Mason smiled and placed his arm in the position to wrestle Tyler's.

"Enter the uncle," Damon quipped.

"This is ridiculous," Stefan said.

Even though Tyler was strong, Mason had no problem beating Tyler. That meant Mason was stronger. So whatever supernatural trait ran in the Lockwood family . . . Mason knew how to access the power from it. Tyler didn't.

"A'right, he's the champ," Tyler said, gesturing to Mason. "Who wants to go next?"

"Hey, Stefan wants a go," Damon volunteered his brother and Rebecca grinned.

Stefan rolled his eyes at Damon. "Yeah, sure, I'll give it a go."

Stefan went to the table and got ready before grabbing Mason's hand.

"My brother over there thinks I can beat you," Stefan told Mason.

Mason grinned boyishly. "Your brother's wrong."

Once the bell rung, Stefan lasted about ten seconds. Then Stefan's arm and hand touched the table and Mason won.

"You didn't put in any effort at all," Damon accused Stefan when he reached them.

"Yeah, actually, I did."

Damon looked from Stefan to Rebecca. Damon's expression was one full of surprise. If Stefan had actually tried to beat Mason, that proved even more that Mason was a supernatural being – along with the rest of the Lockwood males.

"Come with me," Damon said to them. "Is he . . . ?"

"No, it wasn't that kind of strength. But it was more than human, if that makes any sense."

"What is up with that family?" Damon seethed. "If they're not vampires, what the hell are they?"

"Ooh, uh, maybe they're, uh, ninja turtles," Stefan said after pretending to think.

Damon just stared at him. "You're not funny."

"Or no. Zombies. Werewolves."

"No comedic timing at all," Damon criticized.

"Well, whatever they are, they're gonna have to wait," Rebecca said. "I have a show to do. But I'll go to Diana's apartment tomorrow and get the books I need. I'll check out legends and things like that."

She quickly kissed Damon and then left. Damon watched her hurry toward the school. Then he looked around, noticing a handy man over in the corner fixing a speaker.

"What? What're you up to?" Stefan asked.

"Since this is reality and there's no such thing as werewolves or combat turtles –"

"It's a ninja turtle, actually," Stefan corrected.

Damon didn't pay attention. He was too busy formulating a plan.

"Hey, you," he said to the man.

"I have a name," the guy said.

"Yeah, I don't care."

Damon grabbed the guy by the shoulders and forced the man to look in his eyes.

"I need you to pick a fight with someone," Damon said, compelling the guy. "Kid named Tyler Lockwood."

"Damon, don't do this," Stefan said, but Damon waved him off.

"It's just an experiment."

"Oh, yeah? You know you shouldn't be doing this. That's why you waited for Rebecca to leave."

Damon basically ignored his brother so he could focus on compelling the handy man.

"Get him mad. But don't back down no matter what he does. Okay?"

"I won't back down."

"I know you won't."

Damon patted him on the back and let the man go. Stefan watched on in disapproval.

"You realize someone's gonna get hurt, right?" Stefan asked.

"No. Someone's gonna get mad. As in rage."

"Why? What's that gonna accomplish?"

"That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight. Let's see who intervenes. Maybe it's the ambiguously supernatural mystery uncle."

Stefan scoffed. "Well, we need to keep an eye out for that guy. He's gonna get himself into a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, he is. Can you take care of that for me? I have a show to catch."

"Damon . . ." Stefan said sternly.

"Stefan," Damon mimicked. "Just do it.  
\----------  
For the first time in a long time Rebecca had stage fright. Two of the songs she was going to be singing tonight were so not her and she felt a little uncomfortable doing them in front of people. But she'd been rehearsing for a reason. She wanted to do this. She loved singing and dancing; tonight she was going to do both.

Her first set number was a song called "S and M" by Rhianna. It was a song Caroline had picked for her as a joke. At first Rebecca had refused because Rebecca really wasn't into any freaky stuff, but then she'd seen the dance routine Caroline had come up with and had realized she had to do this.

Damon would love it and it would turn him on so much he'd want to rush them home to have his way with her.

She had black leather pants on – tight leather pants at that – and a black t-shirt that showed her stomach off. To top it off, she had a black half jacket made of leather and black hooker boots. She would've cringed from the heels had she been human.

Elena, who was managing the show in Caroline's absence, gestured for Rebecca to take her place on stage. Rebecca nodded her understanding.

The stage was dark enough that even Rebecca couldn't see properly. But when the lights came on she knew she would have a red glare on her. The stage lights were only going to be red for this number.

The music started. It was a semi-fast beat that would pick up the tempo during the chorus and that was when Rebecca would begin to dance.

On cue, Rebecca began to sing.  
\----------  
In the audience, Damon was watching as the music started and the lights came on. Rebecca was the lead singer, but she had back up singers and dancers. There were poles on the stage. Was Rebecca going to pole dance? Where had she learned to do that? And why hadn't Damon known she could do that?

This was going to be interesting.

Rebecca's voice was seductive and low. Damon wasn't the only one who was noticing. Just about every male there seemed hooked. Instead of feeling jealousy burn through him, Damon felt a sort of pride. Pride because this was his girl up there, his girl demanding attention from the crowd and succeeding in getting it.

During the chorus Rebecca grabbed the pole and spun around it quickly, whipping her body around in a sexy way.

Who knew Rebecca had an inner stripper waiting to break out? Damon thought.

When the song was over Damon watched Rebecca walk off the stage and heard a few whistles and catcalls. He'd noticed that Rebecca had looked flustered while disappearing off stage. He knew it was probably because of all the attention she was getting, but it was also because of her song choice. There was no way she had picked that for herself.

When Rebecca came back to the stage she had changed. She'd exchanged the dominatrix look for blue jeans, a white t-shirt and converses. This was more her.

Except she had an electric guitar strapped to her. It was another thing Damon didn't know she could do. She must've gotten a lot of practice in doing things she wanted to do when she had been stuck in the house those few days after she'd first been turned.  
\----------  
On stage the first few chords of "I Hate Myself for Loving You" played with the assistance of Rebecca and her guitar. Rebecca had been so proud of herself when she'd realized she could play the guitar because of her new vampire skills; it had been easy to learn and remember everything with her vampire memory.

When Rebecca started singing she made her voice rougher because she was singing a rock song.

The next song Rebecca did was a country song called "Rebel Child" by Gretchen Wilson. She had the same outfit on, only she switched the converses to cowboy boots.

Rebecca had a whole list of songs that could appeal to just about anyone. She didn't stick to just one genre because there were many different types of people here – what appealed to one person might not appeal to another, so she did a little of everything.

While Rebecca was performing, Damon was watching and becoming extremely turned on. How could he not when Rebecca had been pole dancing at one point. She was being purposefully sexy – how was he supposed to react?

During a part of the last song, Rebecca actually wrapped one of her legs around the pole and the other one came out straight in front of her. Neither foot was on the stage and Damon suddenly didn't like that all the guys here were looking at Rebecca, especially since she was doing this, dancing like this.

He watched as Rebecca gripped the pole firmly with her legs and bent backwards slowly and seductively. She was showcasing her breasts through the material of her shirt. Damon knew that after the concert was over he was rushing them home because she'd been teasing him since the beginning of her show – she wouldn't dance this way for herself, that was for sure, and she wasn't dancing for the other guys here either.

After the song ended Damon watched Rebecca head toward the school. He knew she would be changing there so he began to follow her. He caught up to her in the hallway near the bathroom and he grabbed her and gently pushed her against the lockers.

He heard her gasp and then he saw her grin mischievously up at him.

"Hi," she said with faux innocence in her voice.

"Hi?" Damon muttered. "You're a tease."

"Am not," she said, still smiling. "If I were a tease, I would get you all riled up and then not follow through. When have I ever not followed through?"

"Mm . . ." Damon began kissing her neck. "Good point, Miss Rebecca. Shall we follow through now?"

"Here?" Rebecca asked, incredulous. "In the school? We could get caught."

"It heightens the excitement, trust me."

Rebecca looked down the hallway and noticed that almost no one was around.

"Keep an ear out for anyone that might come by?" she asked nervously.

"I promise I will protect your honor, Miss Rebecca," Damon said chivalrously.


	5. Chapter Five

Rebecca couldn't believe she was doing this; she was having sex on a desk. Or . . . she was about to. Damon had led her to the nearest classroom and had locked the door behind her. Then he'd led her back toward the desk that the teacher would sit behind during the day.

Rebecca grabbed his shirt and pulled her to him, tugging his lips to hers. Damon's tongue forced her lips apart and she gasped.

Her butt hit the desk and she brought her legs up to wrap them around him and he let his hands wonder over her bottom.

Damon unzipped his jeans and then he slid his hand under her dress. He stopped when he reached the apex of her thighs. He groaned against her lips because she wasn't wearing any panties.

She giggled and nipped at his chin.

Damon put his finger through one of the holes in the fishnet pantyhose and pulled, tearing them at the seams. He watched her face flush and her eyes widen.

Damon knelt down in front of her and he watched her mouth drop open into a surprised oh. She began to squirm, so he grabbed her hips to hold her still. He pushed her dress up and spread her legs wide so he could move closer.  
\----------  
It wasn't until they had both climaxed that Damon realized where they were. There was a chalk board, maps, and pictures of presidents on the walls. They were in Alaric Saltzman's classroom. They'd had sex in Alaric Saltzman's classroom.

He chuckled because he knew that if Rebecca got her senses back she'd be so embarrassed about it because she knew Alaric.

"So . . . where'd you learn to dance like that?" Damon asked, regaining control of his limbs enough to withdraw from her and tuck himself back into his jeans.

"Caroline actually hired someone, and when I saw this routine they had come up with I knew it would make you crazy so I did it. I learned it."

Damon helped her situate her clothing and saw her look around the room. Her eyes went wide and then she giggled, flushing red.

"We're in Ric's classroom." She glared playfully at Damon. "Did you know we were in his classroom?"

"Not until a few minutes ago," he admitted. "But, honestly, I didn't care enough to say anything."

Rebecca really didn't care either; she just wanted to make sure there were no tell-tale signs in the classroom for Ric to pick up on. But sadly there were. There were papers on the floor that had previously been on the desk; the desk had finger indents on it; the room reeked of sex, but Ric wouldn't be able to smell that because he was human.

"Help me clean up, Damon."

Rebecca began picking up the papers on the floor and Damon looked for some tissues that would clean off Ric's desk – there was sweat there.

Damon found the tissues under the desk and went to work.  
\----------  
After Rebecca and Damon were decent they decided they should go enjoy the rest of the carnival. Damon stayed close to Rebecca because if any vampires were around they'd be able to smell her arousal – unfiltered, thanks to the no-panties that Rebecca was sporting – and it would probably excite the predator part of them. He wouldn't leave her side until she was clean again.

Damon heard footsteps behind him and turned to see that Caroline had suddenly appeared.

"Oh, hey, Blondie," he said for once okay with being in her presence. It probably had to do with the recent orgasm he'd had. "They let you out?"

Rebecca grabbed Damon's arm because something was off with her blond friend. Caroline was pale and her makeup was darker than Rebecca was used to seeing on her.

"I remember," Caroline said.

"What do you remember?" Damon asked tiredly.

"I remember how you manipulated me," Caroline said, moving forward. "You pushed me around. Abused me. Erased my memories. Fed on me."

"You're crazy," Damon said.

"Well, the memories have been coming back. In pieces."

Oh, no, Rebecca thought. Caroline wouldn't be remembering unless . . .

"You can't remember. That's impossible," Damon said. "I mean, unless you're becoming a . . ."

Caroline smiled softly. "I have a message from Katherine."

Katherine! Rebecca groaned mentally. Katherine had gotten to Caroline while Damon's blood had been in her system. Because Rebecca hadn't killed Katherine when she could've Caroline was now a vampire.

"She said game on."

Caroline began to walk away and Damon grabbed her arm. Caroline shoved Damon halfway down the hall and, because she hadn't expected it, Rebecca was knocked down too.

"You suck," Caroline said to Damon and then walked away.

Rebecca got up faster than Damon did because she hadn't been thrown like Damon had.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, I'm not okay. Barbie's a vampire. We're in trouble."

Rebecca called Elena while she let Damon call Stefan.

"Elena . . ."

"What's up, Becca?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Oh, no. More drama. I can tell by your voice. Whatever it is, I'm not interested," Elena said.

"I need to talk to you right now, Elena. Meet me in Alaric's classroom. Damon and Stefan will be there too."  
\----------  
Stefan had been keeping an eye out for Carter, the guy Damon had compelled to pick a fight with Tyler, and nothing had happened until now.

Carter had shoved Tyler in the parking lot and Tyler had gotten angry like Damon had said he would.

"Watch where you're going."

"You got a problem?" Carter asked.

"Yeah, you walked right into me."

"What're you gonna do about it?"

"You're kidding, right?"

Stefan watched Carter shove Tyler again, and Stefan had to admit Tyler was trying to keep his cool.

"You better back off," Tyler told the guy, but Carter just kept on coming – Damon's compulsion.

"You hit me again, I swear -" Tyler started but was interrupted by Carter punching him in the face.

Tyler reacted, but Mason, the mystery uncle, intervened.

"Hey! Tyler! Hey! Get back!"

Mason pushed Carter away from Tyler and yelled, "What the hell, man?"

Carter even tried to take out Mason by shoving him and punching him, which knocked Mason to the ground, but Mason was okay.

Carter, who had gotten hold of Tyler again, threw Tyler to the ground. Mason jumped over Carter to get between the two teens and Stefan heard Tyler mutter, "Your eyes!"

Stefan focused his vision on the older Lockwood. Mason's eyes were yellow and they had an animalistic glow to them. He was definitely not human, that was for sure. Damon had been right to check this out.

Stefan watched as Mason hit Carter and knocked him out. Mason helped Tyler up from the ground and the two Lockwoods left.

Carter began to rise and Stefan went to him to make sure he was okay.

"Why did I just do that?" Carter asked, confused.

"You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Stefan said, thankful no one had been seriously hurt.

After Stefan was sure Carter was okay he checked his phone and saw that he had three missed calls and a couple texts; they were all from Damon.

Something was wrong.  
\----------  
Damon and Rebecca were in Ric's classroom waiting for Stefan and Elena. Rebecca didn't even want to see Elena's reaction. If Elena reacted like Rebecca thought she would, it wouldn't be pretty.

"I should've followed Caroline. I . . . she could hurt someone. And she's probably starving."

When Stefan showed up Rebecca noticed that he stopped right at the doorway and looked around tensely. He was breathing heavily. Damon was watching him closely, and moved closer to Rebecca.

Stefan looked closely at Rebecca, more intense than she'd ever seen him focus on her except for the time he'd killed her. This was not a good look. This was a very bad look.

"Damon . . ." she barely whispered. "What's he doing?"

Damon stepped in front of her so Stefan wouldn't be able to see the source of his sudden tension. Damon knew this would blow over quickly. The suddenness of the smell of sex had just gotten to Stefan because the classroom door had been closed and when Stefan had opened the door he'd gotten a big whiff of it. Not to mention, Stefan probably hadn't expected to smell sex in a classroom.

Stefan took a few deep breaths and was then fine. When Elena got there Damon and Rebecca explained what had happened and the brunette grew silent.

"How did this happen?" Stefan asked. "Hm?"

"Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her," Damon said. "A plus B equals . . ."

"But why?" Elena asked.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty little slut," Damon said simply.

"And she said, "Game on"?" Stefan asked. "I mean, what does that even mean?"

"It means she's playing dirty. She wants us to know."

"Well, then we should play dirty right back," Rebecca said. "We need to stop her. She'll kill everybody in this town if we don't do something."

"Why Caroline?" Elena asked.

Damon sighed. "I don't know."

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind," Stefan said. "She has no idea what's happening."

"Oh, I think she does. All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"We have to find her."

"Yep," Damon agreed. "And kill her."

"What?" Rebecca said as Elena said, "You're not gonna kill Caroline."

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability. We've gotta get rid of her."

"Damon. Absolutely not," Stefan said.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan? Yeah. Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire. I mean, her mother is a vampire hunter."

"And you're girlfriend is a Vampire Slayer! I'm doing okay."

Damon looked at her and sympathy pooled his features.

"Becca, come on. We all know how this story ends. So let's just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not an option, Damon," Elena declared.

"No?"

Stefan sighed and shook his head but didn't say anything.

"Your silence is deafening, Stefan," Damon said. "Wait, wasn't there a school event the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where history repeats itself."

"Damon . . ." Rebecca said. "We can't just -"

"You know I'm right."

"No, I don't. My dad works for the council and I'm a vampire. Caroline could . . . figure things out. We don't have to kill her. She's my friend. I can't kill her."

"It's the only way."

"No. I can help her. Teach her like you're teaching me. Killing her without giving her a chance is wrong. We just need to find her. We have more of a chance if we split up. I'm gonna call Matt and ask if he's seen her. Elena, try Care's cell; Stefan, try and track her. Damon, I understand if you don't agree with what I'm doing, and I also understand if that means you won't help."

Damon crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips. He was trying to look out for them; didn't they understand that? Caroline Forbes was a liability now. She could cause so many problems for them just because of the simple fact that she now knew what they were.

"We're not gonna kill her," Stefan said firmly. "Rebecca's right. We can find her, help her."

Damon watched Rebecca and Elena take out their cell phones and Stefan walk out the door. Elena quickly followed him.

Damon heard when Matt answered and then Rebecca said, "Hey, Matt. Have you heard anything from Caroline? I know she's around. I just can't seem to get in touch with her."

"Yeah, she's around. I saw her earlier, but she told me to leave her alone. She's obviously pissed at me for something. But for what? No clue."

"Well, what happened?" Rebecca asked.

"She freaked out and she's been like that all day. Cool one minute, and crazy and neurotic the next. I'm used to the insecurities and all that. It's who she is, love it or hate it. But this seemed . . . I don't know, different. More. I – I can't explain it."

"It's okay, Matt. You don't have to. I mean . . . I get it. She's . . . she almost died. It probably messed with her head."

"Yeah, I guess."

Rebecca who had been pacing back and forth, turned to look at Damon, but he was no longer there.

"Uh, Matt. I have to go. If you see Caroline, tell her I need to talk to her."

"Got it."

Rebecca hung up and raced out of the classroom. She knew where Damon was headed. He would've gone after Caroline even though he knew Rebecca didn't want Caroline dead.  
\----------  
Damon had left Rebecca to her conversation and was now on his way to wherever Caroline's scent was leading him. He picked up a small wooden spike on the way. He now had the weapon he would use to kill Caroline Forbes. It was a good thing, too, because Damon came across a bloody-faced Caroline not too long after he'd picked up the stake. There she was, crying, with a dead man behind her. His neck had been ravaged. Damon noticed that the man was the same one he'd compelled to fight with Tyler.

"He's dead," Caroline said. "I killed him. What's wrong with me?"

Caroline started sobbing and Damon placed a hand on her back.

"Hey. Hey. It's okay. I can help you."

"You can?" Caroline asked, hope filling her voice.

"Yeah. I have to."

"What're you gonna do?" Caroline asked, sounding like she already knew the answer.

"The only thing I can do." Damon caressed her head gently and said softly, "I'm gonna kill you."

Caroline didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then she faced him. "Please don't. I don't wanna die."

"Yeah, but you're already dead."

"No, I'm not. Don't say that, okay? Just help me."

"Okay." Damon gentled his voice and wrapped Caroline in a semi-friendly embrace. "It's gonna be okay."

Damon slowly brought the stake up so he could stab her through the back, but then someone grabbed his arm and shoved the stake out of his hand.

It was his brother.

"Stefan!" he growled.

Elena had shown up with Stefan, and Caroline was freaking out.

"Get away from me! You killed me!"

"No, Caroline! That wasn't me. You know that. That was Katherine."

"No, then why does she look like you? And why? Why did she do this to me?"

"Stefan, we've gotta get her inside," Elena said.

Stefan nodded. "Alright. Caroline, come with me."

"She will die," Damon said. "It's only a matter of time."

"Maybe so. But it's not gonna happen tonight."  
\----------  
Rebecca had been looking for Caroline when she heard voices. Damon, Caroline, Stefan, and Elena were arguing.

She raced to where the voices were coming from and saw that Stefan was leading Caroline away.

Rebecca almost stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Carter dead on the back of a wagon. She could smell the blood and she had to fight to control herself so her vampire face wouldn't surface.

But suddenly Rebecca didn't care about Carter or anything else except for the fact that Damon was going after Caroline with a stake. Without a thought for her own safety, she rushed toward Damon and Caroline and put herself in front of the blond.

"Damon, no!" she exclaimed and then doubled over in pain. Damon had stabbed her! He hadn't been able to stop fast enough and had stabbed her right in the chest.

"Becca!" Damon exclaimed, letting go of the wood. "Oh, no! Why did you do that?"

Damon watched in horror as blood spilled from Rebecca's chest. He could've killed her. Why had she gotten in the way? He'd had this under control; she should've stayed out of it.

Rebecca hit her knees and Damon quickly followed her to the ground. He blocked out the noise that Elena and Caroline were making because they didn't matter anymore, not even Blondie. All that mattered was Rebecca and the stake in her chest. The stake that he had put there.

"Rebecca, don't move. I'll pull this out and you'll be fine."

He could have killed her. A few more inches down and he would've hit her heart and she would've died. And he would've been the cause.

Damon noticed that Bonnie had shown up and was in denial about Caroline even though Caroline's new vampire state was obvious. Bonnie wasn't happy about Carter being dead, either.

Damon told Rebecca to brace herself and then yanked the stake from her chest, careful not to move the wood any closer to her heart.

Rebecca yelled from the pain and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see Damon's shocked face. She knew he had never meant to stab her, but Rebecca couldn't have just let him kill Caroline. Speaking of Caroline, Rebecca had to go to her, had to help her. So as soon as her wound healed she got up and started after Caroline and Stefan. They were headed to the school bathrooms.

Damon grabbed her arm to keep her from going anywhere and Rebecca yanked her arm back.

"Don't! You were just gonna kill her? Even after what I said earlier? She's my friend, Damon! And she deserves a chance to make it."

Damon glared at her. Yes, he was glad she was okay; he was ecstatic even, but Caroline being alive was going to cause so many problems for him and Stefan and Rebecca.

"Whatever happens, it's on you," he said. "Because I tried."

Rebecca noticed that Bonnie was at the wagon with Carter, the very dead Carter. Rebecca felt sympathy roll through her. Bonnie had just met the guy, but she and Carter had hit it off.

She gestured for Elena to stay with Bonnie and then she went after Caroline and Stefan. She found them in the girls' bathroom. Stefan was gathering paper towels and Caroline was staring at herself in the mirror and sobbing.

"It's a'right," Stefan said. "Come here."

"She hates me," Caroline said. "Bonnie hates me."

"No, she's just in shock. We all are, okay?"

Rebecca knew that what Stefan said was true. Bonnie was in shock, but that didn't mean that Bonnie was just going to accept Caroline's new life path. It had taken forever for the witch to accept Rebecca.

Stefan began wiping Caroline's face clean of blood and Caroline sobbed again.

"What about Matt? What am I supposed to do about Matt?"

"Shh. One thing at a time. Let's just get this blood cleaned off."

Caroline took the towel Stefan offered her and began cleaning her hands.

"I'm a – I'm a murderer. I'm a monster. That man – I killed that man."

"No, your emotions are heightened right now. It's part of the transformation," Stefan explained. "It's completely normal. I promise you, okay?"

The blonde stared at herself in the mirror and Rebecca cringed at what must've been going through Caroline's mind. There was blood all around her mouth and down her neck. Red liquid was soaking into her clothes, and now veins were appearing below her eyes.

"Oh, why does this keep happening to my face? I'm hideous."

"Care," Rebecca said softly. "You're gonna be okay. Just breathe."

Caroline looked at her and blinked a few times like she hadn't realized until just then that Rebecca was even there.

"Becca?"

Rebecca smiled gently and breathed. "Watch me."

She took a deep breath and let her vampire rise to the surface a little, enough to let her face change.

"Oh!" Caroline exclaimed. "Becca, you -"

"Yeah. See, it's normal. Hardly attractive, but normal. Now breathe."

"When you feel the blood rush, you have to tell yourself you're gonna get through it. That you're strong enough. No matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it off, you bury it. That's the only way you're gonna survive this thing."

Rebecca closed her eyes and took a deep breath so she would look human again. When she opened her eyes, she saw Caroline doing the same thing.

"That's good."

When Caroline's face was back to normal, the blond asked, "Why did Katherine do this to me?"

"I don't know," Stefan said, shaking his head. "I wish I did."

"Katherine's a bitch, that's why," Rebecca muttered. "She probably wanted you to do something for her."

"Deliver a message," Caroline said. "She wanted me to deliver a message."

"She wanted us to know she's willing to do anything to get at us. Elena, me, Stefan, and Damon."

"Why does Elena look like her? How am I a vampire? How are any of us vampires?"

Caroline started to hyperventilate, so Rebecca grabbed the blonde.

"Hey, Care. Listen to me. I know you're confused and scared, but everything's gonna be okay. We'll explain everything. I promise, but right now we need to worry about getting you out of here."

Caroline nodded eagerly. "Please. I wanna go home."

Rebecca looked at Stefan and gestured for him to take care of Caroline. He nodded and grabbed the blonde to lead her out of the bathroom. Rebecca followed them out and then let Stefan take Caroline away. Rebecca, however, went back to where Elena, Bonnie, and Damon were.

Bonnie was crying and saying, "I can't believe this is happening."

Damon, who had somehow found a shovel, said, "Come on, don't pout about it. We've got a body to bury." He noticed Rebecca and took in the fact that she was okay. There was still blood on her shirt, of course, but she was fine.

Damon placed the shovel on the wagon and looked at the man on the thing. "Sucks to be you, buddy."

Rebecca thought Damon was being highly disrespectful of the dead. She also thought that Damon was acting odd. He'd been acting weird every since he'd found out Katherine was here. It was almost like he'd gone back to how he'd been at the beginning. Katherine had made Damon give up some of the goodness he'd discovered in himself; she didn't want him to lose that because of the evil-monster-of-death.

Suddenly Damon was on the ground, holding his head and screaming. Elena was staring at Bonnie, who was glaring at Damon. Rebecca could tell just from Bonnie's expression that she was angry and she was taking it out on Damon.

"Bonnie, stop!" Rebecca said.

"No, I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt."

"He didn't do this," Elena exclaimed. "It wasn't his fault."

"Everything that happens is his fault, Elena."

Rebecca didn't know what to do. She didn't want to hurt Bonnie, not after all that time spent trying to get Bonnie to be okay with what Rebecca now was. She didn't want Damon to continue to be hurt either.

There was a water hose nearby and Bonnie turned it on and water sprayed everywhere. What was Bonnie doing? What was water going to do? The water was going toward Damon. Did Bonnie think she could drown him or something?

Suddenly the water turned to fire and went toward Damon. His legs caught fire first and then his screams filled the air.

"Bonnie, stop it!" Elena screamed. "You're gonna kill him."

Rebecca saw red. She was no longer Rebecca Stone, friend to humanity. She was Rebecca Stone, vampire. She was Damon's mate and Bonnie was a threat to Damon. Rebecca had to protect what was hers.

Within seconds, Rebecca tasted the sweet ambrosia that was Bonnie's blood. She had dashed forward and yanked Bonnie's neck to the side and sank her teeth into Bonnie's neck. Bonnie hadn't even had time to scream.

Rebecca had enough control to stop herself from killing the witch. She didn't want Bonnie dead; she just hadn't wanted Damon to burn to death.

Rebecca let Bonnie fall to the ground unceremoniously and she noticed Elena was staring at her with shock.

"What?" Rebecca asked.

"This isn't us. We're attacking each other now? This can't be us."

Elena knelt beside Bonnie and checked her neck. Rebecca noticed that the fire was no longer burning Damon, but Damon was still in pain. Rebecca couldn't look at Bonnie. That hadn't been what Rebecca had wanted to happen. She hadn't wanted to attack Bonnie like that. She had just wanted Bonnie to stop hurting Damon.

Bonnie hadn't lost so much blood that she'd been knocked unconscious, so Elena helped her up and led her away. Rebecca went to check on Damon. Even though she was pissed at him, she still cared about him.

"Damon, are you okay? I mean, I know you're in pain, but are you gonna be able to heal okay?"

"Becca . . . I'm sorry I stabbed you," he said weakly.

"I know." She sighed and knelt beside him. She bit into her wrist and held it near his mouth. "Here. It's not human, but it'll help. You need to heal."

Damon gripped her wrist lightly and brought it to his lips. She gasped when his tongue flicked over her skin.

While he was drinking from her Rebecca thought about how different Damon had been since Katherine had come back. He was back to being reckless and ruthless. Katherine had destroyed what Rebecca had been helping Damon achieve over the last few months.

Once Damon seemed well enough to head home Rebecca helped him stand.

"I'm coming home to get a few things, but I'm gonna spend the night with Caroline. She's gonna need some support."

Rebecca felt a gust of wind behind her and turned to see Stefan. He was looking around and sniffing. He probably smelled the smoke. But when he looked at her his mouth fell open in shock.

"Rebecca, what happened?"

Rebecca lifted her hand to her mouth and wiped red liquid away.

"Bonnie," Rebecca whispered. "I bit Bonnie. She was going to kill Damon, I had to do something."

"Is she . . . ?"

"I didn't kill her. I barely bit her hard enough for a few sips to come out." Rebecca looked toward the guy on the wagon. "What about him?"

"We need to bury him," Stefan said. "You two are wounded. I'll do it."

"Thank you, Stefan."  
\----------  
At the Lockwood mansion Tyler and Mason had just gotten home.

"A'right, we're home," Tyler said. "Safe territory. Enough with the silence."

"I told you to leave it alone," Mason said, walking away.

"What was that move you pulled?" Tyler asked, remembering his uncle jumping over the guy that had been causing the problems.

"Brazilian martial arts. I took some classes a while back."

Tyler shook his head in disbelief. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"I saw something," Tyler said. "I saw your eyes. They glowed."

"Reflection of a car headlight, maybe, that's all," Mason tried to reassure him.

"Reflection of a car headlight? You really expect me to believe that?"

"Tyler!" Mason snapped. "You wanna know what you saw? You saw me get pissed off that I had to pull your delinquent tail out of a fight."

Tyler didn't believe Mason for a minute. There was something up with him. He'd come to town on the pretense of attending the memorial and funeral for his brother, but Tyler had found Mason in his brother's study looking for some rock thing called a moonstone. Why did Mason want it? He's said there was little to no monetary value, so why did Mason want it?


	6. Chapter Six

Rebecca got her things together quickly when she reached the boardinghouse. She needed to be away from Damon; she needed time to think.

"You're still mad at me?" Damon asked, watching from the doorway.

"Yes, Damon, I am." Rebecca's voice was tight and low. "You were gonna kill Caroline."

"I was trying to look out for us!" Damon exclaimed. "Caroline is a blabbermouth. How long do you think it's gonna take for Liz to find out about us now?"

"I don't care!" Rebecca shouted. "I'm sorry, but I don't. Caroline deserves a chance to adapt. A couple months ago you would've thought the same thing. But Katherine has you all screwed up in the head. You wouldn't have stabbed me if your head had been on right. You're unbalanced – more so than usual – and until you get your act together . . ."

Damon blinked when she trailed off. "What? Until I get my act together what? Are you leaving me?"

"No. But I'm not sleeping in this room, either. I'll find another one. Or, if you prefer, I can go to my dad's."

Rebecca hated herself when she saw Damon's eyes fill up with hurt. Damon was used to people just giving up on him and leaving him, and Rebecca didn't want him to associate her with that group of people, but she didn't see where she had any choice. She couldn't just let him get away with how he was acting.

"You're goin' to Caroline's to get away from me. Aren't you?"

"I need time to think, Damon. Away from you, yes. And Caroline needs help."

Rebecca walked out of the room without kissing Damon good-bye.  
\----------  
When Rebecca reached Caroline's house she saw that Matt was there. Caroline was trying to get rid of him, though.

"You should just go because my mom's gonna be here soon."

"No," Matt said. "You've been dodgin' me all day. I mean, I'm more insecure than you are right now."

"What d'you mean?"

"It means that you almost died and it really freaked me out."

Rebecca felt bad for eavesdropping, but she didn't want to interrupt their moment either.

"And it got me thinkin', you know, 'cause I'm just – I'm not in a position where I can lose someone else right now. I realized that even though today I wanted to throttle you, I'm pretty sure that I'm in love with you. And now it feels like you don't feel the same way."

"Oh," Rebecca heard Caroline say softly. "Matt . . ."

Say it back, say it back! Rebecca thought, but Caroline didn't.

Rebecca knew what the problem was. Caroline was thinking about all the problems she and Matt would face if she were to love him back. He was human; she wasn't.

Rebecca chose to spare Caroline from having to say anything; she knocked on the door.

When Caroline opened the door, Caroline smiled. "Hey, Becca."

"Care . . . Damon and I are . . . having a difference of opinion. Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure."

Caroline moved aside so she could go in. When Rebecca saw Matt she smiled softly.

"Matt, hey. You here to violate the sheriff's only child?"

His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed.

"Becca!" Caroline exclaimed. "Not funny."

Rebecca shrugged lightly. "I thought it was."

"Well . . ." Matt grew uncomfortable. "I'll leave you to your girls' night, I guess."

Before Matt left, however, he let Caroline know that their conversation wasn't over by the way he looked at her.  
\----------  
While Caroline was learning about everything Rebecca and everyone else had been keeping from her, Tyler was doing some learning of his own.

Tyler had thought about his confrontation with Mason – both confrontations. He'd caught Mason going through his dad's office earlier; Mason had been looking everywhere – bookshelves, desk drawers . . .

When Tyler had asked him what he'd been looking for, Mason said he'd been looking for family artifact stuff, heirlooms. Tyler had joked with Mason about him having blown through his trust fund already. Mason said he was just looking for an old piece that had belonged to his mom; Mason's dad had given it to her when they'd gotten married. It held sentimental value. It had been passed down to Tyler's dad. Mason wanted to know if it was still in the house somewhere.

Tyler had told Mason that he should ask his mom, so Mason had.

"I think it's good for Tyler to have you in the house," Tyler heard his mom say from his spot in the kitchen. "Oh, and I'll see if I can dig up that stone you're looking for. It's bound to be tucked away in one of Richard's nooks and crannies."

When Tyler was sure both his mom and Mason were out of ear shot, he went to his father's office. He closed the doors behind him. His father had kept things in a safe in that office – the safe was under a loose floorboard that was hidden by a rug.

Tyler opened the safe by putting in the right combination and pulled the lid up. Most of the contents within the safe were papers dealing with legal matters. There was one box, however, that held what Mason had been looking for.

The moonstone. It was an oval rock, milky white in some places, almost clear in others. It was small enough to fit in Tyler's palm; Tyler pocketed the stone. He wouldn't be giving it to his uncle. He didn't trust Mason. His eyes glowed yellow; it hadn't been a flare from a vehicle. His eyes had glowed.

Tyler would make sure Mason didn't get the stone unless he knew he could trust Mason.  
\----------  
The second Rebecca had left Damon had gone straight to his liquor cabinet. Rebecca had left him, or had pretty much told him she was going to. If he didn't get his act together . . .

What did that mean? The only thing he'd done wrong was stab Rebecca, and he wouldn't have done that if she hadn't gotten in his way. What Damon had wanted to happen hadn't even come close to happening. He'd wanted to get rid of Caroline by himself, no interruptions. He hadn't wanted Rebecca there. He'd understood that Caroline was Rebecca's friend; Rebecca shouldn't have been a witness to Damon killing Blondie. But he'd never considered Rebecca would get in the way of what he'd been trying to do.

He and Rebecca were usually on the same page, but this time . . . some wires had been crossed, apparently, because they hadn't been in the same book much less the same page.

Damon was already half drunk when Stefan got home and Damon wondered how pathetic he looked.

"What happened to you? Where's Rebecca?"

"She left. She might leave me for good."

Stefan didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought anything could make Rebecca leave Damon, but apparently him stabbing her while intending to stab Caroline had been enough to make Rebecca angry enough to actually punish Damon.

"Where'd she go tonight?"

"Caroline's. Apparently Blondie needs a baby-sitter."

"Oh."

Stefan was already wondering how much damage Damon was going to cause because of how hurt he was by Rebecca. Damon's hurt usually turned to anger, which then turned to rage and people usually got hurt. Or killed. Or both.

"Is she coming back?"

"I don't know. She said it was up to me."

"Oh," Stefan said again. "Well, what're you going to about it besides sit here and drink?"

"I don't know, Stefan. What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, if you love her like you say you do . . . what wouldn't you do?" Stefan shrugged. "Apologize for going after Caroline."

"What? No. I was doing what I thought was best and I won't apologize for that."

"Well, then you might want to get used to people leaving you."  
\----------  
"So . . . you were saying something about having a difference of opinion with Damon?" Caroline prompted Rebecca to speak.

"He wanted to kill you and I didn't, so I stopped him."

"He stabbed you," Caroline said. "But you seem fine now."

"We heal fast."

Rebecca had explained about Katherine first thing since Katherine had been the one to kill Caroline. Caroline needed to know who the evil-monster-of-death was and to stay away from her at all cost.

Katherine had turned Caroline, which meant that she probably needed her for something. Rebecca didn't want Katherine to get what she wanted, no matter what that something was.

Rebecca taught Caroline how to break into the hospital in the next county over to get blood. She explained that Liz, Caroline's mother, had put security up at the local hospitals because they'd had blood stolen from them.

"So . . . I don't have to kill people? Use them as blood donors?"

"No. Most of the time we don't. Or I don't. And Damon stopped after . . . I asked him to stop feeding from you. I saw what it was doing to you, so . . . I asked him to stop."

Rebecca opened the blood bag she'd stolen – she'd taken two, one for her, the other for Caroline – and began sipping.

"I should never have let him drink from you in the first place. I just wanted him to know I accepted him the way he was. I'm so sorry I did that at your expense. I tried to be a better friend after that and I –"

"I know. I remember you became almost protective of me after that."

"Yeah. I was trying to make up for being a bad friend."

Rebecca sighed. "I love him. A lot. I let him get away with too many things, but tonight was just too much. Katherine has him on edge. If this had happened a few weeks ago, he probably wouldn't have tried to kill you."

"What's the deal with her and him? Or with Stefan. The message was for the Salvatore brothers . . ."

Rebecca didn't know how to explain everything to her blonde friend, so she thought she should start from the beginning.

"Well, it all started with a time traveling spell . . ."  
\----------  
"And then you know what she said? She said if I don't get my act together, she's gonna leave!"

"Well, you did stab her," Ric said.

Ric had been Damon's shoulder to cry on, which was better than being a shoulder to chew on, but Damon was completely drunk. It was a little funny, actually. He'd never imagined Damon to be a share-your-feelings type of drunk, but here he was.

"I apologized for stabbing her," Damon exclaimed. "I did. I was sorry and so I apologized."

"And then there's you wanting to kill Caroline, which you didn't apologize for."

"Not going to either," Damon muttered childishly. "All I did was try to protect us. Caroline is a liability now."

"She might surprise you," Ric said. "Given the chance."

He watched Damon down a shot of whiskey and wondered if he should get the bartender to just leave the bottle there because Damon didn't seem to be quitting any time soon. And Damon didn't quit. In fact, Ric had to drive Damon home because Damon wasn't sober enough to operate a vehicle. Ric watched Damon stumble into the Salvatore boardinghouse and then drove away.  
\----------  
Damon didn't think he was halfway near drunk enough so he went to his own alcohol collection. He noticed Jeremy was sitting in one of the chairs in the living room.

"What are you doin' here?" he asked, subconsciously checking for Rebecca's heartbeat. Nobody else was in the house aside from Damon and Jeremy, not even Stefan.

"You don't lock your front door," the teen said. "And I wouldn't drink any of your alcohol. It's laced with vervain."

Damon sniffed the bottle and, sure enough, the floral scent hit his nose. Though it smelled a little bitter to him.

"Now, why would you do that?" Damon needed that alcohol; he wasn't numb yet.

"So that I could stake you." Damon watched Jeremy hold up a badly whittled stake. "With this."

Jeremy threw the stake to the floor and Damon very wobbly picked it up.

"You came here to kill me?"

"Well, it's only fair. You threatened to kill me at the carnival."

"I did not. I made a statement about how easy it would be if I had to kill you." Damon went to the sofa and plopped down. "What made you wizen up?"

"My father hated vampires. My uncle, too. They were absolute; they knew exactly what they stood for. And I figure maybe I should, too. I mean, stand for something. But killing you? What's that gonna do?"

Damon didn't really know what to tell the kid. Jeremy obviously lacked purpose and was looking for it.

"Look, I don't do the big brother thing very well. Sorry I don't have any milk and cookies to offer you."

Jeremy glared at him with as much menace as the teen could manage and then stood up to leave and said, "Jerk."

"Wait," Damon said. "My father hated vampires too."

"He did?" Jeremy asked, turning back around and crossing his arms.

Damon nodded. "For the same reason your dad did. Only it was 1864, and people knew how to whittle.

Damon watched Jeremy chuckle and bite his lip.

"Did you do this?" Damon asked, holding the stake up for further observation.

"Yeah, I tried. It's a little harder than it looks.

"Huh."

"So where's Becca?"

"With Caroline, who is a vampire now. I tried to kill her, Rebecca didn't like it, and chaos ensued."

"Caroline's a vampire?"

"Uh-huh."

Damon explained the car accident and him feeding Caroline blood to help her heal. Then Katherine had happened. Damon realized that Caroline would have still been human had he let Rebecca kill Katherine when she'd wanted to, when she'd had the chance to.

He also realized that, because he was drunk it was easy to talk to Jeremy. The kid was okay to be around as long as Damon had a buzz going.  
\----------  
The next morning Rebecca got a call from Damon and she almost pressed ignore. Almost. But she realized the call might be about something important so she answered.

"What?"

"So rude," Damon said softly, lightly. "We need you here. Ric's gonna come over and we're gonna find out about the Lockwoods."

"Oh, yeah?"

Rebecca looked at Caroline, who had woken up because of her phone conversation and decided then that Damon or someone could fill her in later.

"Damon . . ."

"You're not coming, are you?" Damon asked, though it was more statement than question.

"You can tell me later. Right? I just . . . I don't want to leave Care alone. She can't go out in the sun. She'll be bored to tears without someone here."

"And you're still mad at me . . ." Damon said.

"No, I'm not. I'm . . . I don't like what you did. But I'm not angry anymore. But you still need to think about what I said. Katherine is making you act crazy. And she's not compelling you this time, Damon. This is all you." She sighed heavily, thinking about the out of character things he'd been doing since Katherine had come back. "We'll talk later, a'right?"  
\----------  
Damon snapped his phone shut with anger. She wasn't coming. He'd told her he needed her – well, he'd said they but still – and Rebecca still wasn't coming.

Damon looked at Stefan and Elena. The brunette was setting on the couch in the living room drinking from a coffee mug. Stefan was beside her.

Ric had already arrived and had not muttered a word about the night before, thankfully.

"Elena mentioned you needed my help," Ric said.

"Yeah. We were hoping you could help shed some light on the, uh, Lockwood family."

Ric's eyebrows shot up as he looked at each of them individually. "Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?"

"Well, you wouldn't," Damon said. "But your dead-not-dead vampire wife might."

"Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together. You said that she had spent years researching this town."

Ric nodded. "Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time, I thought most of which was fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story," Damon quipped.

"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asked.

"The lycanthrope," Alaric informed them.

Stefan and Damon looked at each other and Elena sat forward.

"What, like werewolves?"

"No way. Impossible," Damon said. "Way too Lon Chaney. I've been on this planet 160 some odd years, never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?" Ric asked.

"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor on Founder's Day, but the Gilbert device did. And it affected his son, Tyler."

"And at the school carnival, his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers. It suggested some sort of supernatural entity."

"We were hoping Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is," Elena said.

"Well, all of her things are still at Duke," Ric said. "I mean, her office is still there. She's technically still missing."

Ric glanced at Damon, who shrugged.

"So can we get access to it?"

"I guess if I go with you. You have to have permission from me."

"Good. Because we need to know what we're dealing with. If this wolf man thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good," Damon said. "It means that Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney, and that little Tyler punk may just be Lon Chaney Jr. Which means Bela Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed."  
\----------  
Back at Caroline's house Rebecca was helping Caroline avoid Matt. He'd been knocking on the door, but Caroline couldn't go out during the day. And it was daylight now. Neither Caroline nor Rebecca thought it safe to risk Matt seeing Caroline accidentally burn herself in the sun.

"Okay," Rebecca said. "I have an idea. Just stay quiet, okay?"

Caroline nodded.

Rebecca went to the kitchen sink and got her hair damp enough to make it look like she'd towel-dried her hair. Then she went outside to Matt.

"Sorry, I was upstairs getting dressed. Care's not here."

"She told me she was at home."

"Well, she left before I took a shower. Maybe she was heading to your house to surprise you."

"Maybe. Tyler's doing this thing at the swimming hole. I wanted to spend the day with Caroline."

"Oh."

Rebecca knew automatically that Matt would have to know about Caroline if they had any chance of working at all. Caroline couldn't avoid him forever.

"Well, I'm goin' to Elena's. If I see Care there I'll tell her you're looking for her."

Rebecca got into her car, which was parked in Caroline's driveway, and started it up. She really was going to go to Elena's just in case Matt followed her.

Unfortunately, everyone was at Elena's. Damon, Stefan, Ric . . . what where they doing here?"

She said a quick "Hello," to Damon before heading in. Jenna and Ric were in the living room and Rebecca decided to leave them to it. Besides, she heard Stefan and Elena upstairs.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Stefan asked.

"Which part?" Elena responded. "Digging through my birth mother's work or going to Duke with Damon?"

"Either. Both."

Rebecca reached the entrance to the bedroom and saw Stefan sitting on the bed and Elena packing a small bag.

"Well, I'm sure about the first part," Elena said. "But then again Ric is a good buffer, so we can bond in our anti-Damon solidarity."

Stefan chuckled and even Rebecca smiled.

"I wish you were coming, though."

"Why are you going to Duke?" Rebecca interrupted. "Lockwood research?"

"Yeah. Hey, Becca," Elena said.

"Hey."

"You know what?" Stefan said, standing up. "Maybe we should wait a couple of days, huh? Damon and Rebecca will have made up and then we can all go. Wait until, uh, Caroline is less of a danger and then I can go with you."

"It's okay that I'm going, right?" Elena asked. "And be honest, because if it's not, then I can just stay here. And we can take care of Caroline."

"No, listen, I want you to go. I do, okay? You have questions about your lineage and about Katherine and I'm not gonna let the fact that Damon is going too keep you from an opportunity to get some answers."

Elena smiled. "You hate it, though."

"I hate it." Stefan chuckled. "But I love you."

"I love you too."

Rebecca turned her head away when the couple kissed; she smiled but felt grossed out by the cuteness.

When Rebecca got downstairs she saw Jenna and Ric still talking.

"It's been a while," Jenna said.

"Yeah, well, work has kept me, well, busy."

"I want you to know it means a lot to me that Elena has a connection to her mother. I appreciate you bringing her along today."

"Yeah, well, I figured it was time to take care of my wife's things, you know? Look, Jenna, I know things between us have been a little start-and-stop, and I'm sorry for that."

Rebecca heard a beep beep come from outside. Damon was becoming impatient, it seemed.

"Elena, are you coming?" Jenna called upstairs.

"Be right there!"

Rebecca went outside, caught between going straight to her car and going to Damon. She figured it would be rude to not say anything, so she went over to the blue-eyed vampire.

"So . . . Duke, huh? Takin' a little road trip?"

For the first time that Rebecca could remember, she felt uncomfortable around Damon. Well, felt uncomfortable talking to him anyway.

"You can come, too, if you want."

"Caroline," Rebecca said. "She'll need help today."

"Right," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "Blondie."

Rebecca could tell Damon didn't really believe Caroline was the reason she was staying.

"Damon, I mean it." Rebecca lowered her voice. "I want to be here for her like I was there for you. So let me be here for her. You do what you have to do, Damon, and call me if you find out anything."

Rebecca walked back to her black Charger and got in and Damon watched. Then Stefan came out with Elena.

"Sorry you can't come too, Stefan," Damon said.

Elena glared at Damon and shoved her bag into the backseat where she would be sitting.

"Be careful, okay. And call me if you need anything."

"Oh, I'll take very good care of her," Damon said suggestively just to bug Stefan.

Elena rolled her eyes and pulled Stefan in for a kiss. It annoyed Damon because Rebecca hadn't kissed him before she'd left. Things had been tense because of the Caroline situation. And there had been a huge chasm between them that hadn't been there before. He didn't like it; he wanted it gone.

"Okay, time to go," he said hopping in the car.

Stefan opened the door for Elena and she slid into the car. Stefan watched them until the vehicle disappeared.


	7. Chapter Seven

Tyler Lockwood was confused and intrigued. He had followed Mason that morning when Mason had gone for a morning jog. Mason had led Tyler to the old Lockwood land. So as soon as Tyler had gotten back home he'd begun to ask questions.

"Have you ever been down to those old ruins in the woods?" he asked his mother, who was taking care of some political thing.

"The old Lockwood estate?" his mom asked.

"Yeah. What d'you know about it?"

The only reason he was asking was because Tyler had found an old cellar there and had gone in to investigate. There had been claw marks on the walls; there had been shackles attached to the walls.

Where the claw marks had come from and what the shackles had been for was anybody's guess.

"It was the original plantation house. Beautiful antebellum architecture. And if it hadn't burnt to the ground, we'd probably be living in it.

"Hm. What's the deal with the freaky underground cellar?"

His mom looked at him for a moment before answering.

"We don't talk about those kinds of rooms."

"Why not?" Tyler asked curiously.

"Well, this is the south, honey. But no one likes to reminisce about the old slave days."

Tyler nodded and then looked back when he heard a noise. Mason had just come from the kitchen and was chewing on something.

"Hey. What're you guys talkin' about?"

"We were just talkin' about the old Lockwood property," Tyler answered. "I'm thinking of having some friends over to the swim hole."

It was barely the beginning of March, but the stupid adventurous kind of people would actually try swimming in the frigid water. But mostly, it was just a nice place to hang out, have a barbecue, drink some beer.

"Well, be careful. If anything happens on the property, the family is liable."

"Of course," Tyler said as he walked away.  
\----------  
While Rebecca was staying with Caroline, Stefan called Bonnie to meet him at the Grill. He'd heard Rebecca tell Damon that one of the reasons she wanted to stay with Caroline was because she would be stuck inside all day. Bonnie, being a witch, could help fix that problem.

"I don't know how to make a day-walking ring," Bonnie said.

"Emily made mine; she made Damon's too. Instructions must be in the Grimiore."

"That doesn't mean I can cast the spell."

"Bonnie," Stefan said. "You know how to drop vampires with a single look. Okay? I think you can figure it out."

"Caroline killed someone, Stefan," Bonnie said. "I can't make it easier for her to do it again."

"No, we're not making it easier for her. We're just givin' her a chance to survive. Every day that she's cut off from her old life, from you, from Elena, from Matt . . . it'll make it that much harder for her to hold onto her humanity."

"How do you know she won't hurt anyone else?"

"I don't," Stefan admitted, "but if we don't do everything we can to help her or at least trust the fact that she can keep it together we might as well just stake her right now."

"I don't know if I can trust her," Bonnie said. "Not with this."

"Then trust me," Stefan said. "Rebecca and I are –"

"I don't wanna talk about Rebecca. She attacked me."

"She was protecting Damon. You were gonna kill him. Someone had to stop you. She had no intention of killing you."

If Rebecca had wanted to kill Bonnie, the witch wouldn't have been sitting here.  
\----------  
"How're you doin' back there?" Damon asked Elena from the front seat.

Ever since the road trip had started Elena had refused to talk to Damon. She was mad at him for the Caroline thing too.

"Ya know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

Ric scoffed. "I don't think she's pretending. You did try to kill Caroline."

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement," Damon said. "Caroline is fine. I didn't kill her."

"Yeah, thanks to Rebecca, who took the stake for her," Elena said, breaking her silent treatment. "How mad is Rebecca because you stabbed her?"

"She isn't," Damon said, though he was a little uncertain. If she wasn't angry, then why wasn't she here with him? Was she really taking care of Caroline? Was that the real reason Rebecca had stayed behind?  
\----------  
At Caroline's house Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, and Rebecca were gathered in the blonds' room. Caroline was on the bed with Rebecca beside her; Bonnie was by the window, and Stefan was in a chair in a corner of the room.

Bonnie had almost turned back around when she'd realized Rebecca was there. Rebecca had offered to leave but Caroline had told her not to. Rebecca was the only female support she had; the blond needed her.

"So . . . I don't get to choose the ring I have to wear the rest of my life?" Caroline asked when Bonnie handed her a pretty lapis lazuli ring. It was silver with a blue stone embedded in the middle.

"Hey, if you don't want it . . ." Bonnie started.

"No. no, she wants it," Stefan said.

Stefan shared a look with Caroline and the girl sighed.

"Now what?"

"Now's the part where I explain the rules," Bonnie said. "The witch that spells the ring has the power to de-spell it. So if you ever do anything to hurt anyone -"

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone," Caroline said firmly.

"You're a vampire," Bonnie said, a look of incredulity taking over her face. "That means the urge to kill is a part of who you are. The minute you let it take over, I will stop you."

Caroline looked at Rebecca with a question in her eyes. Rebecca didn't need to hear the question to be able to answer it.

"It's true. The urge to kill or at least bite is always there. Sometimes it takes over, like Bonnie said."

"Bonnie, you're supposed to be my friend," Caroline said softly.

"I can't ignore what happened, okay?" Bonnie said. "If you wanna be friends you're gonna have to prove that the Caroline I remember isn't gone."

Caroline dropped her eyes at Bonnie's remark.

"Now put the ring on the bed."

Caroline listened obediently and placed the ring on the bed.

"Do you really think I meant to kill that guy at the carnival?"

"He's still dead," Bonnie said stoically. "Now, do you want me to cast the spell or not?"

Caroline closed her mouth and Rebecca grabbed her hand. The former Vampire Slayer wasn't going to blame Caroline for something the blond had no control over.

Bonnie went to the windows and yanked one side of the curtains open. Caroline shrank back so the sun wouldn't hit her.

Bonnie closed her eyes and began chanting silently. If Rebecca hadn't seen the witch's lips moving she wouldn't have known a spell was being performed.

It didn't take long, maybe ten seconds, and then Bonnie was opening her eyes. Bonnie picked up the ring and handed it to Caroline.

"All done."

"Mm . . ." Caroline slipped it onto her left pointer finger. "So that's it? I mean, nothing witchy happened. Ya know, no flickering lights, no gusts of wind. Have you even done this before?"

"Caroline . . ." Stefan drawled out.

"Well, I just wanna make sure it worked."

Rebecca giggled. She couldn't help it. Her blond friend had been quite the control freak when she'd been human. That would be magnified now.

Bonnie went to the window again and slid the other side of the curtain open. The light fell on Caroline, who squealed and hid her face until she realized she wasn't being burnt.

"It worked," Bonnie said simply.

Caroline scoffed and glared at the witch. "What if it hadn't, Bonnie?"

Bonnie shook her head and looked at Stefan. "She's all yours." Then Bonnie left the room, taking her spell book with her.

Rebecca got off the bed to go after Bonnie after seeing the smile Caroline had on her face when she realized what the day-walking ring meant. She didn't have to stay cooped up anymore.

Out in the hallway, Rebecca caught up with Bonnie. Bonnie seemed to tense when she saw her. Bonnie wasn't scared, though; she was angry.

"Bonnie . . . I – I'm not going to say I'm sorry for doing what I did last night because I'm not. You should know better than to hurt Damon in front of me. I snapped. I wish I had stopped you in a less violent way, but I'm not sorry I stopped you."

Rebecca stepped toward her and lifted her hand to Bonnie's neck. She wanted to remove the bandage to take in the damage she had caused.

"Does it still hurt?"

"It's still sore, yes." Bonnie sighed. "This was what I was talking about. That urge to kill. I mage you angry and you lashed out at me. You hurt me, and that's not you, Rebecca. I don't like it."

"It wasn't me. It's who I am now. And for what it's worth, I had no intention of killing you."  
\----------  
After three-and-a-half hours Damon, Ric, and Elena finally arrived at Duke University. Damon liked the Gothic feel the college gave off.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology Department given that most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore."

Ric was explaining to them the basics of Isobel's work because they were headed to the Anthropology Department. When they got there a woman, mid-twenties, was going through a filing cabinet.

"Hi," Ric said. "I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

The woman had curly brown hair, light skin, and hazel eyes.

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant. Comparative Folklore." She looked at Damon for a second too long, but then snapped out of it. "Uh, just let me get the keys."

"Sorry," Ric said. "These are my friends, Damon and Elena. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

"Oh, please. Isobel's office it right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant. One of the reasons I went into folklore."

Ric smiled as Vanessa got the keys from the desk, which she then sat on.

"I have to ask, um . . . has there been any news?"

"No," Ric said. "No, I'm afraid not."

Vanessa nodded and looked a little uncomfortable. "It's . . . right this way."

Vanessa led the way, unlocking and opening the door. Elena followed Vanessa, Damon followed Elena, and Ric followed Damon.

"I'll grab the light. Feel free to look around," Vanessa said. "It's fascinating, isn't it?"

Fascinating wasn't the word Damon would use. There were books and artifacts all around the office, and if Damon hadn't needed information, he wouldn't have been here.

Elena went to a cabinet on the right side of the room; Damon went to a display case; Ric went to Isobel's desk. Isobel had quite the collection. This was going to take forever and a day to go through without the assistance of the hot little assistant.

Damon turned to tell her what they needed, but she was no longer there.

"Where'd she go?" he asked.

He got his answer a few seconds later when Vanessa came back in; she had a crossbow in her hands and it was pointed at Elena. Damon heard the latch release on the bow and knew it would hit Elena in the chest and kill her.

Without thinking, Damon placed himself between the arrow and Elena. He grunted when he felt the arrow go into his back. He grabbed onto Elena to try and keep himself upright, but he couldn't. His legs gave out on him as his body filled with pain.

He was aware of Elena standing over him, shocked, and he was aware of Ric shoving Vanessa into the wall and taking the crossbow away from her. Ric led the research assistant out of the room and Elena helped Damon stand up. He grabbed onto Isobel's desk and leaned forward to brace himself.

"Pull it out," he said to Elena. "I can't reach it, Elena. Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts."

He felt when Elena put both of her hands on the arrow and began to pull. At first Damon didn't think Elena was strong enough to pull the arrow out, but eventually the arrow did come out.

Damon groaned and shuddered. "Oh, the girl is dead."

"Uh, you're not gonna kill her," Elena said.

"Why not? She was going to kill you."

"She probably thought I was Katherine. You're not gonna kill her."

"Watch me," Damon said, going past her to the door. He was going to go find that research assistant and teach her how stupid it had been to mess with Damon Salvatore.

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again."

"What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You are severely overestimating yourself."

"Right, I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind that snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want."

"You're trying to manipulate me."

"If by manipulate you mean tell the truth, okay, guilty."

Elena went past him and Damon watched her suspiciously. He followed her out to where the desk was and watched Alaric push Vanessa into the chair there.

"Please!" the woman said. "Okay, I freaked. You would've done the same thing. It is not possible. Katherine Pierce can't be alive, and Damon Salvatore died in 1864. Okay? I read Isobel's research."

"Well, then you should know just how possible that is," Ric said.

"I'm Elena Gilbert," Elena said. "Isobel's daughter and a descendent of Katherine Pierce. And this is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot."

"I'd be extra nice to me right now," Damon said to the research assistant, who looked at the desk.

Now Damon understood why Vanessa had looked at him strangely earlier.

"Look we need your help, okay?" Elena said. "We need to see all of Isobel's research. Anything related to Mystic Falls."  
\----------  
"So, what do I do when I see the rabbit?" Caroline asked.

"Chase it, catch it, feed on it," Stefan answered.

Stefan and Rebecca had brought Caroline out to the woods near the boardinghouse and Stefan was going to teach Caroline to hunt.

"Isn't killing cute, defenseless animals the first step in becoming a serial killer."

"Well, you sort of skipped serial killer and went straight to vampire. And, Caroline, if you aren't serious about this, then I think you should tell me."

"No, I am." The look Stefan gave her was enough to make Caroline snap. "Look, I swear that I am, okay? But it's just – I haven't been in the sun for days, and everyone is at the swimming hole having fun, and Matt is there. He finally told me he loved me, but I've been blowing him off, and now you want me to eat bunnies, and I'm kinda freaking out, okay?"

Rebecca watched Caroline make her hand movements with her words and she was almost frenetic in her speed. Stefan was chuckling at their blond friend.

"And now you're laughing at me," Caroline said, angry.

"No, I'm not laughing. Trust me, none of this is funny," Stefan said. "It's just . . . uh . . ."

Stefan put his hands out in a placating way and Caroline glared at him. "What?"

"When someone becomes a vampire . . . all of their natural behaviors get sort of, uh, amplified.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked, a little more appeased.

"I mean, as a human, I cared deeply for people and how they felt. Uh, if they were hurting, I felt their pain. And I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it. And, as a vampire, all that got . . . magnified."

"So now you're saying that basically I'm an insecure, neurotic, control freak on crack?" Caroline asked, her eyes widening.

Rebecca giggled and looked at Stefan, who smiled at them both.

"Well, I wasn't gonna say it like that, but . . ."

Caroline took a deep breath and looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Listen, let's hunt, okay? And then after that we'll go to the swimming hole."

Caroline perked up instantly. "Really?"

"Yeah. Matt is the closest connection you have to your humanity, and I think that being around him is a good thing."

"Okay." Caroline actually bounced on the balls of her feet. "Okay. Bunnies."

"Okay, blood bag," Rebecca said. "I'm not chasing bunnies, just so you know."  
\----------  
Back at Duke, Vanessa was getting everything together that she knew about vampires. Katherine Pierce, and werewolves.

"This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in September of 1864." The assistant put a box that was filled with folders and books and index cards down on the table in the office.

"Is that all there is about her?" Elena asked.

"All that I'm aware of."

Damon, who was looking at another display case, heard Elena say, "Here, take this."

"Does vervain really work?" Vanessa asked.

"Nope," Damon said from his spot across the room. "Not at all."

"Can he hear us?"

"No, that would be creepy," Damon whispered.

"Can he read minds, too?"

"You know, if you wanna see me naked, all you have to do is ask," Damon said in his regular voice.

"No," Elena spoke up. "That he can't do. But he is very capable of being a first rate jackass."

Damon looked at Vanessa, who was putting a sprig of vervain in her pocket, and then at Elena who was glaring at him. He smirked at the brunette and went back to doing what he'd been doing. He knew Elena was mad at him. Just about everyone was; but she'd also defended him to Bonnie the night before. She'd stood up for him, so she wouldn't stay mad at him for long.  
\----------  
Rebecca, Caroline, and Stefan had finally made it to the swimming hole. Caroline had forced some rabbit blood down her throat so she could go see Matt.

Some of the teens were swinging from a rope into the water even though it was March. Rebecca knew the water had to be cold, but the teens were drunk and the temperature didn't seem to bother them.

Rebecca saw Matt and Tyler talking across the way near Matt's truck, the bed of which held a keg of beer. Then Mason drove up in his Bronco. Tyler went to him and Rebecca homed her hearing toward their conversation.

"Are you bustin' us or joinin' us?" Tyler asked his uncle.

"Neither. I'm hopin' you can have everyone out of here by dark."

"What happens after dark?"

"Someone ends up wasted and dead at the bottom of the lake."

"You're kidding, right?"

"You heard your mom. The family's liable."

"Don't be a party-killer."

"Hey, I didn't say you had to stop partying. I just said you had to take it elsewhere."

"A'right. We'll be outta here."

Tyler walked away and Mason began driving away. Rebecca couldn't help but think that even if Mason was something supernatural he didn't seem to want to hurt anyone. He was looking out for the people at the party even though he wasn't the one throwing the party.

When Mason passed them in his Bronco he nodded at them. Stefan stared at him and Rebecca smiled at him. When he'd driven past, Caroline said to Stefan, "Why're you looking at him with your serious-vampire look?"

"My what? My serious-vampire look?"

"Mm-hm. I mean, it's different from your worried vampire look. Neither of which stray too far from your 'Hey, it's Tuesday' look."

"Oh, I get it. Okay, you think I'm, uh – you think I'm too serious, that it?"

"I mean, I wasn't gonna say it like that, but . . ."

Caroline smiled and Rebecca giggled. She couldn't believe it, but she was having fun with Stefan and Caroline. She still thought about Damon, but he wasn't the only thing on her mind. She actually thought Damon should've been here helping Caroline since, technically, Caroline was his child – she'd been turned with his blood. Damon was her sire. Shouldn't he feel compelled to help her? Or did she have the definition wrong?  
\----------  
Finally, Caroline thought, finding Matt in the crowd. Aimee Bradley, one of Caroline's classmates, was flirting with Matt.

"Matt!" Caroline all but squealed when she reached him.

"What the hell, I've been tryin' to call you," he said.

"I'm sorry, I got held up. I'm here now."

Caroline smiled spitefully at Aimee.

"Hi, Caroline."

"Go find someone single to stalk, Aimee," Caroline said, beginning to compel the girl.

Aimee left without another word and Matt crossed his arms over his chest, obviously not pleased.

"Seriously?"

"She was flirting with you."

"She's harmless," Matt said. "You don't have to be rude."

"You're mad?"

"You've been dodging my calls all day. And you get to show up here and be the jealous girlfriend? It's kind of lame, Care."

Matt walked away, upset, and Stefan came over to her. Rebecca came with Stefan, walked to the side of Matt's truck and grabbed a beer from a cooler and popped it open.

"Hey, I saw that. You compelled her," Stefan said.

"Yeah, she deserved it," Caroline said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Caroline, nobody deserves to have their mind messed with for shallow reasons."

"You know, why is everyone sticking up for Aimee Bradley?" Caroline snapped.

"You're letting your jealousy get the better of you," Stefan reminded her.

"Oh, so now I have magnified jealousy issues too? That's great."

"I told you this wasn't gonna be easy," Stefan said.

Rebecca grabbed another beer and handed it to Caroline. The blond looked at her weird.

"Alcohol helps, I promise. It takes the edge off; you'll feel more calm."

Caroline popped the top on her beer. "Ugh! I should've just stayed dead. My entire personality is killing me."

Stefan chuckled and Rebecca smiled at her blond friend.

"You'll get used to the mood swings," Rebecca said. "Just remember you're not alone. We're here for you if you ever need anything."

Rebecca understood the enhanced jealousy thing. Caroline hadn't been the most secure person in the world when she'd been human, so if Matt were to just talk to another girl Caroline would view it as a threat. Rebecca had been through a small jealousy fit her own self a few weeks ago, but it had been nowhere near the extremes Caroline seemed to be going through.  
\----------  
Back at Duke University, Elena was going through the papers that Vanessa had laid out about Katherine.

"Any luck?" Damon asked.

"There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know," Elena said.

"Oh, man, it's a bummer we're not friends anymore," Damon said. "I could tell you what I know."

"Now who's manipulating who?" Elena seethed.

"Hey, guys. Check this out," Ric said. He'd been looking at a notebook with a bunch of drawings and symbols in it.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls," Vanessa said, taking the book from Ric. "But here are some records from some of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Marechal de Retz."

The research assistant handed the book to Damon and pointed to some foreign language that Damon knew nothing about.

"Roughly translated, it means "the curse of the sun and the moon."

"It's Native American," Ric said.

"Aztec. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia," Vanessa said.

Damon began flipping through the pages of the book he was holding. Vanessa began narrating the pictures he came across.

"Short story: 600 years ago the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible. Until an Aztec shaman cursed them."

Vanessa pointed to a picture on a page that had three figures on it. There was a man with a red and yellow headdress on who Damon assumed was supposed to be the shaman. Damon figured that meant said man was a warlock, the male equivalent of a witch. There was a wave of something coming from the man, and Damon thought it must have represented magic.

There was another man-like creature on the page, and there was no mistaking what this one was. This was meant to represent the vampire. Damon could tell because of the fangs.

That left the wolf, or the werewolf. Though the image whoever had drawn didn't resemble a wolf in the slightest. For one, the thing was standing on two legs – maybe that was meant to represent that the beast was also a man. The only resemblance the picture had to a wolf was the fact that it had a tail.

"The curse made vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night, and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, whoever's unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asked.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse," Vanessa said. "Werewolves will attack humans, but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice: Vampires."

Damon was suddenly alert. Vampires and werewolves were having some sort of supernatural war? Damon hadn't heard anything about that and he would've known if his kind were being hunted, especially if some supernatural man-beast was doing the hunting.

"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires I would know about it."

"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked, taking the words right out of Damon's mouth.

"To protect themselves," Vanessa answered. "Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire."

Elena looked at Ric, and Damon thought she was probably thinking the same as he was. If Mason was a werewolf, then Stefan and Rebecca were in Mystic Falls with the werewolf.


	8. Chapter Eight

As night fell, Rebecca, Caroline, and Stefan were getting ready to leave because Tyler had asked everyone to just go back to his house and continue to party there. The three vampires weren't going to Tyler's house; they were going back to the boardinghouse.

Matt was packing up to leave and Rebecca saw Caroline looking at him longingly.

"He's mad at me," Caroline said.

"Go talk to him," Stefan said to her. "We'll wait."

Actually, they had to wait because both Rebecca's and Stefan's cell phones rang at the same time. Rebecca figured that Elena was calling Stefan because Damon was calling her.

"Hello?" she answered, motioning to Caroline that she should go talk to Matt because Rebecca might be on the phone for a while.

"Hey, look, where are you right now?" Damon asked.

"Uh, at the swim hole on the Lockwood property."

"Are you alone?"

"No. Stefan and Caroline are with me."

She heard Damon sigh. "Okay. Get Stefan and get Blondie and get yourselves out of there."

"Uh . . ."

"Just do it," Damon snapped. "It's a full moon and Mason Lockwood might be a werewolf. One bite can kill you."

Damon hung up and she blinked in surprise as she heard the click on the other end.

Okay, then, the thought. She needed to find Stefan and Caroline and, like Damon had said, get them out. Stefan was easy enough to find, but Caroline was a little more difficult. She was no longer near Matt's truck, and neither was Matt.  
\----------  
Damon hadn't meant to snap at Rebecca, but he was a little furious. He wasn't mad at Rebecca; he was mad because there may be a lethal threat to Rebecca and Stefan in Mystic Falls and he was in North Carolina, helpless to do anything about it.

"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgangers?" Elena asked Vanessa.

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures. But typically, a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself."

"Did Isobel have anything that would explain the link between me and Katherine?"

"That's all she had on Katherine, unfortunately," Vanessa said, pointing to the box she'd laid out earlier. "But I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

"And more things we already know." Elena sighed. "Just . . . I wanna know why we look alike."

"Head-scratcher, isn't it?" Damon asked nonchalantly.

"Do you know something or are you just being yourself?"

"Well, if I know anything, I'm not gonna tell you. Not with that attitude."

"That's good. And this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend. But you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends. They help each other."

"So is this little bedtime story gonna help us determine whether or not the Lockwoods suffer from the curse?" Damon asked, referring to the Aztec curse they'd found out about.

"I'm afraid not," Vanessa said. "But Isobel had other research on the subject."

Vanessa handed Damon a big manila folder. "Here's a theory that might help. The curse travels down the male line, staying dormant until it's activated. Before that, it can show through certain symptoms."

"Let me guess: Anger management issues, aggressive tendencies."

"So, what activates it?" Ric asked.

"Unfortunately, Isobel never figured that part out."

"Genius," Damon quipped.

"Are you starting to believe this too?"

"Well, it's not something I wanna do. Not like I have a choice."

Damon just wished they could hurry it up. He would feel a lot better if he were back in Mystic Falls backing Stefan and Rebecca up. If this werewolf thing was true then Rebecca and Stefan were in danger.  
\----------  
"Wait," Stefan said, grabbing onto Rebecca's shirt sleeve. "Do you hear that?"

They had come into the woods, or deeper into the woods, and now both vampires were standing still, listening. There was a faint but threatening growl coming from nearby.

"Is that a regular animal, do you think?"

"None that I've ever heard," Stefan answered. He began to move forward. "Stay behind me."

"Uh . . . Elena told you what would happen if you were bitten, yes?"

Stefan and Rebecca came upon a Bronco – Mason's Bronco. There were shackles on the ground near the vehicle.

"Uh . . ." Rebecca watched Stefan pick the metal chains off the ground. "Stef . . . maybe we should just find Care and get out of here. Now, Stefan!"

Stefan nodded and grabbed Rebecca's arm so they could run, but before they even moved something with yellow eyes jumped through the back window of the vehicle.

That something was black and huge and a wolf.

"Oh, my God!"

That wolf had to be Mason. Had to be. It had been in Mason's vehicle. It knocked Stefan down and, seeing as to how Rebecca was behind him, Rebecca was knocked down too.

Surprisingly, the wolf didn't go after either of them; it just ran off into the night.  
\----------  
"I trust you to, uh, not tell anyone about this?" Ric said, walking down the steps of the Anthropology Department of the university.

"Or Damon will kill me in my sleep? He gave me the 411. But if you need anything, you'll call?" Vanessa asked.

Damon and Elena had already gone to the car with the few boxes of information they'd collected, leaving Ric to say the good-byes.

"Hopefully I won't have to," Ric replied to Vanessa's offer.

"But if you do . . ."

"Listen, you don't wanna get caught up in this. Really. It'll take over, and it'll keep you from being able to live your life."

Ric knew of a lot of things he'd wanted to do before he'd found out about vampires. He'd wanted to start a family, have kids, be normal. And now . . . now he couldn't even be honest with Jenna about why he was the way he was and why he did the things he did. He hadn't even been able to tell her about why they'd come to Duke; they hadn't told her the real reason.

"Isobel's disappearance . . . was it related to her research?"

"Isobel became her research. She wanted to become a vampire and she got her wish."

"I guess that would put a strain on a marriage."

"Yeah. Anyway, I was wondering what it would be like to come back here and it's okay. It's really okay. It feels good to have her in my past, you know? It's time to move on."  
\----------  
At Ric's car Elena was trying and failing to open the car door. The door was locked and Damon had the key. He thought about just watching her struggle but then decided not to.

"Here," he said, taking the key out of his pocket and pressing the unlock button. "Allow me."

Damon opened the door for her. Just as she moved to get in Damon stepped in front of her.

"You're not gonna be able to hate me forever," he said.

"Can we just go?" Elena asked, sounding resentful.

Damon sighed and said, "You didn't dig deep enough."

He then began digging through the box of information they had on Katherine. He pulled out a book that had Petrova on the spine.

"I saw this on the shelf," Elena said. "What's it have to do with Katherine?"

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova, to be exact."

"How did you know that? I thought she introduced herself as Katherine Pierce."

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too, ya know." Damon smirked at her almost to the point where he was grinning. "Let me know what you find. I'm very curious myself."

Elena nodded and tried to walk past him to get to the car, but Damon grabbed her elbow firmly so she couldn't move.

"Wait. You have every right to hate me. I didn't get that before, but I do now. I understand why Rebecca got in front of Caroline last night. I did it for you today. So . . . I understand now. But you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So is it?"

Damon didn't know why, but this was actually important to him. Rebecca wasn't happy with him and he needed some support from someone and the only other person he was even semi-friends with was Ric, but Ric wasn't mad at him.

"Have I lost your friendship forever?" Damon asked, looking down at her. He knew his expression was sincere, his voice was sincere. He meant what he was saying.

"Thank you for the book, Damon," she said. She slid past him and got on the seat.

Realizing that Elena wasn't going to answer him, or at least not yet, he closed the door for her. He would give her the car ride home to think about it and then he would ask again.  
\----------  
Rebecca and Stefan had been searching the swimming hole area for the better part of ten minutes and still hadn't found Caroline. They had, however, found the blonde's phone on the bed of Matt's truck. She had to be nearby.

So they searched. In the woods, they smelled blood. Not a copious amount; it was actually very faint. But they found Caroline that way. She was attacking Matt.

"Stop!" Stefan yelled, running forward. "Hey, stop, stop, stop!"

Stefan grabbed Caroline and shoved her away from Matt. Rebecca saw Matt begin to fall to the ground, so she caught him before he could hurt himself.

"Oh, no," she heard Caroline say.

Matt was unconscious, but Rebecca was relieved to find his pulse was steady.

"Listen to me. We have to get out of these woods. Now," Stefan said. "We need to leave."

Growling seemed to come from all around them and Rebecca glanced from left to right. Nothing was there.

"What was that?" Caroline asked.

Matt groaned and Rebecca grabbed his hand. That was when she noticed the blood on his hand. It looked like he'd cut himself. It was deep. Rebecca assumed Matt had accidentally caused himself to bleed and it had made Caroline lose control. That explained the bite on the neck.

"Matt, it's okay. Don't move," she soothed.

"Hey," Stefan said. "We're gonna run, okay?"

Rebecca saw him looking from her to Caroline. They had to run? They were going to leave Matt defenseless?

"It will follow us. We'll lead it away from Matt. So you need to run as fast as you can, do you understand me?"

Caroline nodded and began running.

"Matt . . ." Rebecca muttered.

"It will follow us, Becca. We're its prey of choice."

"Oh." Rebecca got up quickly and she and Stefan began running. Within seconds they'd caught up with Caroline. They were near a cellar on the Lockwood property.

"Wait," Caroline stopped at the entrance to the cellar. "What is it?"

"It's a werewolf. It will try to kill us, and it can."

"Hey!" they suddenly heard. "What're you three doin'?"

Tyler was still out here? Near the cellar. Why was he all the way out here?

"What're you doin' here?"

Caroline screamed. From out of nowhere, a monstrous black wolf had tackled Caroline to the ground, pinning her there. It was drooling on her.

"Stefan!"

"Care!" Rebecca yelled as Stefan did some tackling of his own, getting the wolf off of Caroline. Rebecca grabbed Caroline to help her up.

The black wolf was faster than Stefan getting up and came at Rebecca while Rebecca's back was turned and snapped at her with its teeth. Caroline pulled her away in time, but it pounced again, this time jumping on its hind legs and hitting Rebecca with its front paws.

Somehow, someway, Rebecca felt pain in her sides. The wolf tried to bite her again, but she was holding it at bay. Its claws, however, had sunk into her sides as it was sliding down her body.

It hurt so bad that her knees gave out. Something warm and sticky was making its liquid way out of her body. She screamed from the pain.

Rebecca could feel the breath hitting her in the face. Its breath stank and it was hot and moist against her skin.

Oh, no, she thought.

"No!" That shout came from Tyler, and she felt the wolf turn to the human.

Funnily enough . . . the wolf listened to Tyler. The wolf had had a staring contest with Tyler and Tyler hadn't backed down. It was almost as if the werewolf had been given an order. The animal sped away. Only when the animal was gone did Tyler seem to go into shock.

Stefan was suddenly by her side and grabbed her shirt to lift it up. She was still bleeding.

"Stefan, it's not healing. Why isn't it healing?"

"You need to feed," he whispered so Tyler wouldn't hear. "Caroline? I need you to take her back to the boardinghouse. Make sure she gets some blood in her. Can you do that?"

"Yes. But Matt and Tyler . . ."

"I'll handle it. You just take care of her."

"No, I'll . . . I'll come back. This was my mistake. I wanna fix it."  
\----------  
"Road trips work well for us," Damon said, walking Elena up to the porch.

"That doesn't mean that things are back to the way they used to be, Damon."

"Oh, come on. You know I chipped a little bit off your wall of hatred."

Yes, she'd been silent on her way back from Duke, mostly because she'd been reading the book she'd been given, but still . . ."

"I need to know the truth," Elena said. "When you stabbed Rebecca . . . did you mean to? And if she hadn't gotten in the way . . . would you have really killed Caroline?"

Damon bit his lip. He could easily lie and get out of this, but she'd asked for the truth.

"I never wanted to stab Rebecca. She got in front of me and I couldn't stop myself in time. I never wanted to hurt her. But, yes, I was going to kill Caroline. I thought she was going to be a problem. I still think that."

Elena nodded. "Thank you for being honest with me. And the answer to your question about our friendship is yes. You have lost me forever."

Damon just looked at her. He'd taken an arrow in the back for her. He'd helped her find out about Katherine. And after all that talk about friends helping friends . . .

"But you knew that already, didn't you?" he asked. "You used me today."

"You had information about Katherine that I needed to know."

"I thought friends don't manipulate friends."

Elena couldn't even defend herself because she had said those words to him. She could barely even look him in the eye.

"You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks" Damon heard the disgust in his own voice. He felt like attacking Elena. Biting her, ripping her heart out. Something.

Instead he just walked away. He didn't go to Ric's car; he just began running home.  
\----------  
Rebecca was in pain. That was all she could feel. Rebecca still hadn't healed. Caroline had brought her home. Rebecca had only been able to walk halfway and then Caroline had to carry her the rest of the way. Now Rebecca was lying on Damon's bed, trying not to bleed all over the sheets.

"Care!" she exclaimed. "There's blood in the basement. Go get me some, please."

"I'll be back in a minute, okay? Just please don't die! Or pass out! Okay?"

Caroline walked – well, ran – out of the room and down the stairs to the basement. There was a cooler full of blood bags so Caroline grabbed one and then another, but then Caroline realized she didn't know how much a hurt vampire needed to survive, so she just grabbed a handful and raced back upstairs to the main floor.

She hadn't known anyone else was home, but Damon was in the living room. He was pouring bourbon into a glass. Damon seemed to be surprised that Caroline was there.

"What're you doin' here? Stealing?"

Caroline looked down at the blood bags and grimaced. "I'm not stealing, and it's for your girlfriend. She's upstairs and hurt."

The glass Damon had been preparing was forgotten as Damon concentrated on hearing anything that happened to be in this house. He usually did that anyway, but he'd been preoccupied.

He could hear Rebecca's heartbeat now, slower than normal, along with her labored breathing.

"She's in your room," Caroline said meekly. "I didn't know –"

Damon ignored the blond and raced upstairs, where he found Rebecca peeling her shirt off. Damon's heart stopped for a moment. There were twin sets of claw marks on Rebecca's sides. The wounds were still open and bleeding. Why weren't they healing? Had she been bitten?

"Becca . . ." he whispered, and she looked his way.

He moved forward to help her, and he saw at least some of the tension leave her body. He would take care of her and she knew it.

"Damon. It hurts. It doesn't wanna heal."

"You need to clean it," he said, going toward the bathroom. He removed the soap from the soap bowl and filled it with water.

He heard a small gust of wind and then Caroline was talking. "Here. I . . . didn't know how much you needed."

"Thanks, Care."

Damon turned back and saw that Blondie, the girl he'd wanted to kill, was helping Rebecca like only a good friend would.

Damon grabbed a wash cloth and went to the bed. He noticed Rebecca was trying to stay still. She probably didn't want to damage herself further.

"What happened?" he asked. "Was it . . . ?"

"It was," Rebecca answered. "Werewolves exist. It was Mason. He tried to bite me."

Damon tensed. A bite would've killed her. "But . . ."

"I blocked him. That's how he got his claws in me." She glanced at the bowl in Damon's hands. "Will that help?"

"It should." Damon set the bowl on the bedside table. "May I?"

He only asked because of the rough patch they were going through. It was a definite possibility that Rebecca wouldn't want him touching her.

"Please make it stop," she said.

"What do you need me to do?" Caroline asked, in her in-charge voice.

Damon didn't get time to answer before Rebecca said, "Care, you need to take care of Matt, okay? I'll be fine, I just need to heal."

"But –"

"Blondie, she'll be fine," Damon said. "I've got this."

"Call me if she doesn't get better."

Damon nodded and watched Caroline walk toward the bedroom door. Caroline had watched over Rebecca when he hadn't been there. Even though Damon had threatened to kill her – had had every intention of doing so – she'd still helped Rebecca. She hadn't done it for him, he knew that, but he was grateful all the same.

"Hey, Blondie," he called to her before she left the room. "Thank you."

Caroline had turned to him when he'd called to her and now she was just staring at him.

"Rebecca took a stake for me, Damon. I kind of owe her my life."

Then she left. Damon heard her racing down the stairs and out the front door. Then his focus turned to Rebecca.

He began cleaning the wounds and was angered when he found that the wounds – the claw marks – were really jagged cuts that refused to close.

Mason was so dead.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," he said softly. He put the wash cloth in the water and rung it out.

The twang of blood hit his nose and he felt his body tense. Her blood no longer made him hungry. It made him angry that someone had hurt her enough to make her bleed.

Even after Damon cleaned the blood off of her stomach the wounds didn't want to close like they should've. They still had blood leaking from them.

What if not only a bite would kill a vampire but any wound that came from a werewolf? Vanessa hadn't said anything about being clawed by a werewolf. Had Isobel not done research on that before she'd been turned?

"Damon, am I gonna be okay?" Rebecca whispered.

Rebecca wasn't just in pain now. She was scared. Scared because she hadn't been this wounded in a long time. She'd thought that now that she was a vampire she wouldn't have to worry about wounds that wouldn't heal.

She'd been wrong.  
\----------  
"You're not gonna remember what I did to you," Caroline said, looking into Matt's eyes. She'd made it back to the Lockwood property and was now compelling Matt to forget what she'd done to him. Stefan had already performed first aid on Matt so he wouldn't bleed out anymore. "Or what you saw me become," Caroline continued. "We were just making out in the woods and then an animal attacked you and bit your neck. It's weird, it just came out of nowhere."

Caroline sighed and walked away from a very dazed and confused Matt. She saw Stefan waiting for her and tried to get a handle on her emotions.

"What're we gonna do about Tyler?"

"I took care of it. He remembers that he saw the wolf, but he doesn't remember we were here," Stefan said. "I'll get Matt on vervain. It'll keep you from being able to compel him, but it'll also keep you from being able to drink his blood."

"I can't believe I hurt him. I mean, he's the one person on this entire planet that I never wanted to hurt."

"It's not gonna get any easier," Stefan said honestly. "You're just gonna have to work that much harder."

"I shouldn't be with him, should I?" Caroline asked him. She had been looking at Matt, who had been rubbing his neck where she'd bitten him. She would've killed him had she not been stopped. "Not if there's any danger."

"I'm the last person to make that kind of decision for you," Stefan said. "If I had followed my own advice, I would've walked away from Elena a long time ago."

"Do you ever think you should've?"

"I know I should've. I just can't."

Caroline realized that she was going to be a threat to every human she knew. She wasn't going to be able to be around anyone by herself for a long time.

She was a monster.


	9. Chapter Nine

Tyler was still in the woods on his property near the old slave cellar. Nearby, the Bronco was parked. The back window had been shattered outward.

"What the hell?" Tyler muttered. What had happened to Mason's car? Had his uncle wrecked?

Tyler looked through to the bed of the car and saw Mason's clothes. His uncle was wandering around naked? Really?

"Hey, you wanna toss me those?" Tyler heard from behind him. Mason was there, naked and covered in dirt.

Tyler looked down at the pants he was holding and then he threw them over to his uncle.

"It was you," Tyler said. "You were the wolf."

Mason nodded but didn't speak.

"How?" Tyler asked. "What are you?"

Mason didn't speak at first, but then . . . "You already know what I am, Tyler. Don't make me say it."

"How?"

"You don't need to worry about it," Mason said. "It won't happen to you."

"Don't need to –" Tyler said, exasperated. "You're a wolf!"

"And you're not," Mason said. "You'll be okay."

How was he gonna be okay? His uncle was a werewolf and he hadn't known until just then. Tyler was freaking out and he didn't know what to do. Did his mom know? Had his dad been one?

Tyler had more questions now than he'd started out with.  
\----------  
Rebecca's wounds had finally closed and were no longer bleeding, but they still looked angry and maybe even infected.

"How much pain are you in?" Damon asked. "And be honest."

"Not as much as I was," Rebecca said. "They still hurt, though."

"Like how?"

"Like . . . they sting if something touches them. But I'm better. I think."

Damon felt relieved, a little, but he wasn't going to relax fully until all the marks disappeared. At least she was getting blood in her system now. The blood was taking affect now. Her wounds were looking more and more like scratches and less and less like claw marks.

"Are we sure it was Mason?" Damon asked, determined. If it was Mason, the man had to be taken care of. "Are you sure it wasn't Tyler? And where was Stefan when all this was taking place?"

"Stefan was there, Damon. The wolf went after Caroline first. Stefan saved her and then Caroline pulled me out of the way before I could be bitten. And . . . Tyler made Mason stop attacking me. I think Stefan's taking care of Tyler, making him forget that he saw us get attacked.

Rebecca stifled a yawn and Damon decided she needed to rest.

"As long as everyone's okay," he said. "You should sleep. We'll talk more when you feel better."

She nodded gratefully, already moving to snuggle under the covers.

"What happened to you not sleeping with me anymore?" he asked, teasing, hoping she didn't take offense.

"Tonight doesn't count," she mumbled. "I was hurt. So I call do over. Tonight and tomorrow is a . . . probation period. I'm your parole officer. I'll monitor your actions and we'll see."  
\----------  
Despite what Rebecca had said about monitoring his actions, Rebecca had fallen asleep shortly after getting comfortable. Damon had rubbed her back to soothe away any tension she'd had and had relaxed when she'd begun breathing softly enough for him to know she was sleeping.

Damon left her in the bed when he heard the door open downstairs. Stefan was home, if the footsteps were anything to go by.

Damon met him at the foot of the stairs.

"Hey," Stefan said. "I am so sorry. How is she?"

"Better. Caroline was . . . helpful," Damon admitted grudgingly.

"Bet you're glad you didn't kill her, huh?" Stefan teased, though Damon could tell he was being serious too.

"Shut up," he said. "Just be thankful she didn't get bitten."

"I am thankful. I didn't want her getting hurt any more than you would've."

"Right. Well . . ." Damon wasn't sure what to say because he wasn't used to having civil conversations with Stefan. It was odd to him.

"Just say 'Good night,' Damon," Stefan instructed.

"Good night, Damon," he said smartly, before smirking. Then he grew serious. "Good night, Stefan."  
\----------  
Caroline had gone to the Grill after making sure that everything was okay with Tyler and Matt. What she really wanted was a drink, but what she found was Matt there talking to Aimee Bradley again.

She wasn't so jealous this time because she knew that Matt cared for her only, but she also knew that if she acted jealous then it would make Matt mad. She didn't want to put a rift between them, but she thought that was the only way she could get away with breaking up with him without having questions thrown at her from every direction.

"Seriously, Aimee?" Caroline snapped, coming up to the table Matt and Aimee were sitting at.

"We were just talking," Aimee said.

"Oh, that's what you call it?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Are you kidding me?" Matt asked Caroline angrily.

"No, I'm not, Matt. She's into you and anyone can see it."

"Look, I'm sorry," Aimee said, standing up from her seat. "I didn't mean to . . . I'm just gonna go."

Aimee took off, the fact that she was upset clear on her face.

"Caroline . . ." Matt said. "Knock it off. What are you doing?"

"This isn't my fault, Matt, okay? She's after you and I shouldn't have to put up with that."

"I thought you said no more drama?" Matt said, sounding betrayed.

"Well, I lied."

Matt shook his head then and glared. "Forget it. Just forget all of it."

"So . . . what? Are you, like, breaking up with me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's what I'm doing," Matt said and walked away.  
\----------  
Stefan was in period clothes and he was dancing. He knew where he was and when he was.

Lockwood Mansion, 1864.

"Look who's found his dancing shoes," came a familiar and unwelcome voice. Though . . . he didn't feel like the voice was unwelcome in his dream.

Katherine was in an off-the-shoulder blue dress. It was very risqué for the time period they were in. He had no idea why he was dreaming about the founder's ball of 1864, but he was.

It was happening the exact way it had happened in real life. Katherine had gone to the Founder's ball with Stefan, and Damon, being compelled by Katherine, had been heartbroken by not being able to escort the brunette.

He knew Katherine wasn't supposed to be there dancing with him. He was supposed to be with Elena. Why was he dreaming about the other one?

He found that he couldn't control his actions, even though it was his dream, when he moved toward the brunette and tried to kiss her.

"Ah, ah. No touching, Mr. Salvatore. Those are the rules."

"I thought you didn't believe in rules," Stefan said. "My brother's still upset that you chose me to escort you."

"Well, Damon needs to concede that his younger brother is a better dancer."

As Katherine and Stefan spun around each other Katherine looked towards Damon and said, "Ah, looks like Damon has found someone to occupy his time."

Stefan looked toward his brother and saw . . . Elena. What was she doing with Damon? And where was Rebecca? Why was Damon holding her hand? And why was Elena smiling at Damon the way she only smiled at him?

"Elena . . ."

Stefan tried to bypass Katherine, but she placed a hand on his chest and said, "Stefan, don't."

He moved past her anyway and followed Damon and Elena, who were now leaving the mansion. They were leaving together.

"Elena!" he exclaimed as he made his way out the door. Instead of ending up outside, Stefan found that he was going into the Grill.

He heard people laughing and he stopped, confused. How had he gone from 1864 to now? Why was he dreaming this way?

He realized he was in modern clothing now. Everyone else was in modern clothes too. He saw people he knew and people he only recognized. He saw Elena, too, in a purple shirt and tight black jeans. She was holding a pool cue stick and looking at him.

"It's your turn," she said.

He began making his way to the table but stopped when he saw Damon going to her instead. Damon was actually sauntering to Elena. Elena was supposed to be his. Where was Rebecca in all this?

Stefan felt his heart break when he saw Damon and Elena kissing. It was a short and playful kiss, but also an intimate one. They weren't supposed to be intimate.

"Be prepared to lose," Damon said playfully.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" he heard from behind him. Katherine had appeared. She was still in period dress. "Now you know how I feel."

Stefan looked back at his brother and Elena, and Katherine grabbed his face. "Don't fight it, Stefan. You loved me once. You can love me again."

Suddenly, Stefan was back in 1864 and he was in period dress again.

"I love you, Stefan. We'll be together again, I promise."

Katherine kissed him tenderly on the lips and then laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her.  
\----------  
Stefan's eyes shot open and he gasped. That had been a weird dream. What in the world had made him dream that?

"Hey, you okay?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, it's just a bad dream," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."

He felt Elena nod and he began to play with her hair and realized the smooth locks were curly. Elena didn't have curly hair. Katherine had curly hair. So Stefan thought about it. Elena hadn't stayed overnight. She'd been at home doing something – reading, he thought – so she wasn't there with him in the bed.

"Katherine," he seethed, getting out of the bed and racing across the room.

"You have to admit I am getting better at this," Katherine said, smirking. She was sitting there smirking at him. "It was easy to get inside of your head. Have you completely forsaken your nature?"

Stefan felt his face change and he lunged toward her, but she easily pushed him to the floor. He knocked a book off the table while trying to catch himself.

"Are we really gonna do this again?" she asked. "We both know I could rip you to shreds and do my nails at the same time."

"What d'you want?" he asked, getting up from the floor.

"I wanted to see you," Katherine admitted, sounding bored. "I missed you, Stefan. Indulge me for a little while, please."

"Why're you back in town?"

"Three reasons. You, you, and you." She even counted each you out on her fingers.

"You see, I can't quite get that down. It gets stuck in my throat."

"Well, you know it's the truth." Katherine placed her hand on his chest and began trailing down gently. "Inside that gorgeous body of yours is the Stefan that fell in love with me too."  
\----------  
"Mmm . . ." Rebecca stretched leisurely across the bed but stopped when she didn't feel Damon there. She was sure he had been there when she'd fallen asleep.

He must've had something to do or he never would've left her side. When she opened her eyes she saw a note on his pillow.

It was short but sweet at the same time.

Becca,

Had something to do. Got Ric to talk to Jenna and she's having a BBQ at their house. Meet me at 2:00? Call me when you wake up.

Love eternally,

D

P.S. Hope you're feeling better.

She smiled at the love eternally part until she realized that something had woken her up. She'd heard a thump, like something had fallen to the ground.

Maybe Stefan had been drinking or something and had fallen? Maybe she should check on him.  
\----------  
Damon looked at his watch. It was almost one and Rebecca hadn't called yet. He wondered if she was up or if she was still resting.

Damon was at the Grill placing an order for a peach cobbler. He was using it as a peace offering for Jenna. She and he used to hit it off great, but ever since she'd seen Katherine trying to kiss him, she'd been a little distant.

He couldn't blame her. Jenna had thought it was Elena. Speaking of, Elena was in the Grill too, going through the book he'd given her the night before. She was also eating.

Just to see what she would do he went and sat at the same table she was at.

"What do you want?" she asked when she noticed him.

Damon looked around the restaurant like he'd never been there before. "So this is where you spend your time when you're not stabbing people in the back."

"I tricked you into telling me the truth. That's not stabbing you in the back, that's using your own tactics against you."

Elena closed the book and Damon noticed she had a notebook with her. She'd been taking notes. She cleared her things away and put them in a bag.

"Where are you goin'?" Damon asked.

"I made myself clear, Damon," Elena said, standing up and putting her bag on her shoulder. "I want nothing to do with you."

"Okay. See you at Jenna's barbecue," Damon quipped, stealing a pickle off of Elena's plate. She didn't like pickles? What was wrong with her?"

"How did you know about Jenna's barbecue?"

"It was my idea," he bragged. "Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood. So . . . I figured a social gathering was a good way to get to know the guy, so I told Ric to tell Jenna –"

Elena cut him off. "Does Jenna know you're gonna be there? Because she's not exactly a fan of yours."

Suddenly a waitress came up to the table and placed a square box down and smiled Damon's way.

"Perfect," he said. "Thank you." Then to Elena he said, "I'm hoping this peach cobbler will pave the way."

Damon grabbed it and got up, completely prepared to leave, but Elena said, "What're you up to?"

"I'm gonna put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove that he's a werewolf," he said, smirking. "See ya at the barbecue."

Damon was almost one hundred percent sure that Mason was a werewolf – the same werewolf that had attacked Rebecca the night before, but he wanted to be certain before he killed the man-beast.  
\----------  
"Hey, Mason, you got a second," Tyler asked.

"No, man, barbecue at Jenna Sommer's house."

Mason was gathering his things and Tyler was following him to the door.

"Come on, man, give me two minutes, a'right? You can't keep dodgin' me. I'm freakin' out over here."

Tyler hadn't brought up what had happened the night before at all. He'd been a little too in shock to. But now he wanted answers.

"Tyler, what d'ya want me to say, man? Yes, I turned into a wolf. No, it's not gonna happen to you."

"How do you know that?" Tyler asked.

"Because you're not gonna trigger the curse. Your dad didn't know about any of this; neither did I until it happened to me."

"How does it get triggered?"

"Ignorance is bliss, trust me."

"You blow back into town with some supernatural family secret and you expect me not to ask questions?"

"I can't say anything more. I'm sorry, Tyler. It's just better for you if I don't."

Mason opened the door and began walking out, but Tyler stopped him by saying. "You ever find that moonstone?"

"Do you know where it is?"

Tyler shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's so special about it?"

"I told you. It was my mom's. It's sentimental. Look, just don't worry about it. Forget I even brought it up, a'right? I'll see you later."

Mason left, and after making sure Mason was actually gone. Tyler removed the moonstone from his jeans pocket. Really, what was the deal with this rock? Why was it important? What did Mason need it for?"  
\----------  
"You shouldn't read someone's journal," Stefan said.

Rebecca saw him come into the living room with a glass of blood in his hands. He handed it over to Katherine, who was the one reading Stefan's journal.

"I know. I'm sorry. It was just too tempting. All of your inner thoughts and feelings . . . laying there on your desk for me to read."

Rebecca had gone into Stefan's room after she'd woken up and had been shocked to find Katherine there. Now the wench wouldn't leave. Rebecca was thinking about finishing what she'd started the night Damon had stopped her from killing Katherine. Apparently, Stefan had other plans, though, because he'd taken the journal away and had handed the glass of blood to Katherine.

"Damon's private stock."

"That's right, you don't do human," Katherine said. "I read that. And I also read about your recent werewolf sighting. That must've come as a surprise."

Katherine was sitting on a chair twirling her hair, flirting with Stefan.

"Little Becky got a little . . . mauled," Katherine taunted. "I can't imagine what that must feel like."

"Are you that anxious to find out? Because I'm sure that could be arranged," Rebecca threatened.

"Hm . . . I bet poor Damon was so worried when your wounds wouldn't heal. Too bad I wasn't here. I could've . . . comforted him."

Rebecca growled a warning for the girl to shut up, but Katherine ignored her.

"Well, I'm only being honest. I have years of experience on you. I wonder if he ever thinks of me when you're –"

Rebecca leapt from her spot on the couch and grabbed Katherine by the hair and threw her to the floor. The blood went all over the carpet – Damon was gonna pitch a fit.

"Hey," she heard Stefan shout. "Stop!"

Rebecca's face changed in frustration. That was the second time someone had stopped her from killing this stupid Pierce woman. She actually forgot about Katherine for a second and pounced on Stefan.

"Stop saving her!" she seethed.

"We need her," Stefan chocked out, which was when she realized she had her hand on his throat and was squeezing – hard – and she let him go immediately.

"What do you know about werewolves?" Stefan asked Katherine, who had gotten up from the floor.

"I know not to pet one," Katherine answered. "Their bite kills, Stefan. It's best to stay clear of them on a full moon."

"And how do you know this?" Stefan asked.

"Who do you think was responsible for ridding this town of vampires in 1864?"

"Founding families," Stefan said.

"Spearheaded by . . ."

"The Lockwoods."

"You remember the Founder's Ball, don't you?" Katherine asked. "The one that you were dreaming about?"

"I was your escort," Stefan said.

"That was before you and Damon knew about my little secret."

Stefan remembered that night clearly. Damon had made a toast to George Lockwood. George had been a Confederate soldier, much like Damon had been; only George hadn't deserted.

Henry, one of the vampires that had been locked in the tomb, had wanted to talk to Katherine that night. Stefan had never found out what Henry had wanted.

"You remember when the attacks first started? That night Henry told me he'd looked into it. He'd found out it hadn't been vampires. The victims had been torn apart in ways he'd never seen before.

"From the moment I met George Lockwood, I knew he was going to be a problem."

"So you're saying that all the Lockwoods are werewolves?" Stefan asked.

Katherine had moved to the other side of the room, closer to the exit, Rebecca noted smugly. Rebecca and Stefan were seated on the couch, both alert. Katherine was a clever one; they didn't want her getting one over them.

"The werewolf gene runs in the Lockwood family, not that they're all wolves."

"How many other werewolves are out there? I mean, is it just limited to the Lockwoods."

"No, there are others. Not many. They're practically extinct. They mainly exist now in books and really bad movies."

Katherine grinned. "My turn to ask a question."

Katherine giggled and grabbed Stefan's journal again, opening it to a very particular page. Rebecca realized it was a picture of Katherine from 1864; Stefan had been using it as a bookmark.

"Why did you keep this picture?" Katherine asked. "Hm?" Why not burn it? Tear it up?"

Stefan didn't answer. Rebecca could've sworn it looked like Stefan didn't have an answer. In that amazingly powerful vampire brain of his, Stefan couldn't find the answer to that one question.

"You wanna know why I came back? Well, I have a better question. Why did you? For Elena? No. You came back here to fall in love with me all over again, didn't you?"

Stefan's mouth fell open into one of disbelieving acceptance. It was like he was saying what Katherine had said was true.

Oh, my God! Rebecca thought.

"Stefan!"

Said vampire got up from the couch and went to Katherine; their faces only inches away from each other. Stefan cupped her cheek.

"What is it about you . . ." Stefan muttered. "That makes me still care?"

Stefan had lost his mind. Maybe he'd been drinking human blood again? Whatever the reason, Stefan was doing the worst thing imaginable. He was switching teams.

Traitor. Damon was going to be heartbroken and angry. Elena was going to be heartbroken and angry. The brunette was going to feel used and . . .

Suddenly Katherine was falling on the sofa and Stefan was glaring at her; he had one of Alaric's tranquilizer darts filled with vervain. Rebecca hadn't known they were in the house; she hadn't known Alaric had supplied them with weapons.

"Stefan . . ."

Stefan looked at her. "Ye of little faith," he chided. "Help me get her into the cellar."

Rebecca nodded and grabbed Katherine's legs while Stefan grabbed her upper body. Rebecca was surprised when Katherine was deposited into a chair and was then shackled to it – arms and feet.

Katherine, who had been unconscious, started groaning and her eyelids fluttered open.

"Now, where were we?" Stefan asked, leaning against a table in the room. That was when Rebecca realized where they were: the room where they grew vervain. "That's right, you were gonna tell me the reason you came back to Mystic Falls, weren't you?"

"You didn't have to do this," Katherine said, struggling with her shackles.

"Answer the question."

"I came back for you."

"Well, we're gonna play by my rules now."

Rebecca watched as Stefan put on the gardening gloves she or Damon used when they picked vervain for the sheriff and pulled a sprig from the soil and walked to Katherine.

"No, what're you doing?"

Stefan grabbed Katherine's hair and pressed the sprig to her cheek. The room was filled with Katherine's screams. Rebecca wanted to cover her ears. Vampire or not, Rebecca did not like hearing people in pain, even if it was the evil-monster-of-death.

"Answer the question!" Stefan said dangerously.

"You're gonna torture me now?" Katherine asked, her voice trembling.

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get you to tell me the truth," Stefan declared.

Stefan threw the herb down and went back to leaning on the table.

"Later that night, at the Founder's Ball . . ."

"No, I don't wanna hear anymore stories about the past."

"Yes, you do, Stefan. That's exactly what you wanna hear."  
\----------  
Lockwood mansion, 1864

"She's all alone," George Lockwood said, coming up to Katherine. "Does this mean I can finally have you all to myself?"

"Your father's outdone himself."

"Yeah, knowing father, he'll wanna throw a Founder's Party every year."

"I must admit, I am a bit surprised that you would come looking for me," Katherine said, hiding a shy smile behind her champagne glass.

"Because you're the rope in the Salvatore's tug-of-war?"

"No. Because I'm a vampire who could kill you in your sleep."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Relax, George. I know you know my secret."

"This conversation is over," George said, beginning to walk away. Like other men, he thought his word was law because he was a man, but Katherine grabbed his arm to hold him in place.

"And I know your secret too, and I know that you're extra-strong. Only not as strong."

George smiled uncomfortably. "How do you know who I am?"

"You think that I would settle into a town without knowing my enemies?" Katherine asked.

"What do you want?" George asked, falsely agreeable, and Katherine smirked at him.  
\----------  
"What did he want?" Stefan asked.

When Stefan didn't get an answer he grabbed another chair that was in the room and sat in front of Katherine.

Just then Rebecca's phone vibrated in her pocket and she grabbed it. It was after two, so she knew who it would be. She hadn't called Damon when she'd gotten up and she definitely hadn't met him at Jenna's.

"Yeah," she said, stepping out of the room in the cellar. "Sorry I didn't call. I'm still gonna come; I just . . . I'm distracted right now."

"Distracted how?" Damon asked.

"Oh . . . I woke up and the evil monster of death was here. She's . . . being interrogated. But if Stefan has it under control I'm still planning on coming."

"Please. Don't make me sit through a whole afternoon of people who hate me."

"Oh, Alaric doesn't hate you. Neither does Elena; she just . . . doesn't like you right now."

"Thanks," Damon muttered. "Anyway, I'm at Elena's. I can expect to see you here soon?"

"Yeah." She smiled softly. "I missed you his morning, Mr. Love Eternally."

"Shut up," Damon mumbled. He sounded a little embarrassed, much like he would've had he been human. "I've gotta get going. Love you."

"Love you too."  
\----------  
Damon hung up and shut the car off. He'd waited outside in the car because he heard talking coming from inside the Gilbert house.

"Thanks for letting Caroline come. She could use a day of distraction." Elena said. She'd obviously gotten back from the Grill.

Damon had heard about Caroline and Matt. Caroline had bitten him and then, feeling guilty, had arranged for Matt to think she was an overly jealous, insecure, girlfriend so he would break up with her.

"Well, she's not the plus one I'm worried about," Jenna said. "Why is Damon coming?"

"Because Alaric is a pity-taker. Come on, Jenna, be nice."

"I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off of you."

Then, suddenly, Damon heard a male voice. "Aha, good news, found the shot glasses." That would be Mason; his Bronco was parked outside.

"That would be my exit," Elena said.

"I'm here ten minutes and already it's like I'm back under the bleachers at a pep rally."

"It's just like old times, huh?" Mason asked, and they both laughed. "Only I didn't swipe this bottle from my old man."

Then a new voice came in, also male. Ric. "Oh, the expensive stuff. I like you already."

"Just happy to be invited."

"Well, thank Ric, this was his idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Well, ya know, I thought it'd be nice to meet some of Jenna's old high school friends. Dig up a little dirt."

"Oh, I've got dirt," Mason claimed. "I've got dirt."

"I have no secrets," Jenna claimed. "Only dirty shame."

"Well, then, to dirty shame," Ric said.

Damon chose that moment to get out of the car, go up to the door and knock, and be let in. Elena was the one who answered the door.

"They're in the kitchen," Elena said. "Go on in."

Damon went past Elena and into the kitchen. Ric, Jenna, and Mason seemed to be having a grand old time.

"Hey," he said.

"Damon . . ." Jenna sounded less than thrilled.

"We're just doin' shots," Ric said. "Let me get you a shot glass, buddy."

Damon smiled a little when Jenna looked at the dessert box in his hands.

"No. Here," Jenna said. "Use mine."

The woman walked past him and dropped the small glass into his hand. Then she left the room. Ric looked at Damon sympathetically but then followed his girlfriend out of the kitchen. It suited Damon fine. He wanted to talk to Mason alone, anyway.

"She doesn't like me very much," he stage whispered to Mason, going toward the kitchen counter and placing the box down on it.

"We haven't met. Mason Lockwood." Mason held his hand out and Damon shook it.

"Oh, sure, hey. Damon Salvatore."

"I know. Heard great things about you. Carol, the sheriff."

"Really? That's weird. Because I'm a jerk."

"It's true, ya know," came a very welcome voice from the archway of the kitchen. "He really is."

Rebecca had arrived.

Damon hadn't realized how tense he'd been until he'd heard her voice. He turned to her and smiled when he saw she was healthy looking again. No blood all over her, no pale skin, no shuddering, pain-filled breathing. She was fine again.

"I see you're feeling better," he said.

"Much, thanks." She then eyed the other man. "Hello, Mason."

"Becca."

From the other room, in came Caroline. She smiled at Rebecca, then came over and gave her a hug. A tight one.

"You're all better!" the blond exclaimed. "All better!"

"Yup. Thank you, by the way, for helping me when Damon wasn't there."

"What're friends for?"

Then Caroline went for a bowl of potato chips that had been left on the counter. She gestured for Rebecca to follow her and Rebecca did, after giving Damon a swift kiss on the cheek.  
\----------  
Stefan had told Rebecca she could leave if she had wanted to; he could handle Katherine on his own. So she'd come to Elena's. And now she was being led out front by Caroline. Elena was on one of the chairs on the porch, so Rebecca and Caroline sat on one of the two-seaters that had been placed there.

Elena was just hanging up her phone when the other two girls sat down.

"Was that Stefan?" Caroline asked, stuffing a chip into her mouth.

"He hasn't called me back. I'm trying to decide if I should be worried."

"I'm sure he's fine." Caroline stuffed another chip into her mouth. "I cannot stop eating. Stefan says it's a great way to sublimate the cravings. You know, it's horrible, just fighting the urge for blood every minute of every day."

"I know that Stefan really hates that part of himself," Elena confided.

"Well, yeah," Caroline said. "I mean, he hates that you're a constant temptation."

"He said that?"

"Mm-hm. The desire to rip out your jugular every time he's with you? Trust me, it's there. And it's why I had to break up with Matt."

Elena was quiet for a few minutes and then Ric came out and said, "Hey, food's ready. Come get it."

"Finally. I'm starving," Caroline said.


	10. Chapter Ten

"You know, we can sit here for as long as you want. And when you start to desiccate . . . there's a tomb with your name on it," Stefan said to the vampire shackled to the seat in front of him.

"I've been doing all the talking," Katherine said. "It's your turn. Do you pretend to be human when you're with Elena? Is that the appeal?"

"Actually, I don't pretend to be anything when I'm with her. That's the whole point. I get to just be myself."

"Does she know that you love me?"

Stefan leaned forward. "I don't."

"That's where you're wrong, Stefan. Don't you remember bringing me home that night? You're family had taken me in."  
\----------  
Mystic Falls, 1864

"I had a lovely time, Stefan," Katherine said, walking up the stairs behind Stefan. He was escorting her to her room.

"How long do you plan on staying in Mystic Falls?" he asked.

"As long as I'm wanted," she replied. "Your father has been very kind to give me shelter."

"How could we not? Losing your family in the fire. I'm grateful you made it out of Atlanta."

"So I gather I'm wanted?"

"Uh, very much so," Stefan said shyly and then chuckled.

Katherine thought it was adorable and she hadn't thought anything a man had done was adorable in centuries.

"I know we've only known each other a short while and . . . and I know I'm in competition for your affections, but . . . uh, I've never met a woman quite like you. I – I look at you and I see an angel. I touch your skin . . . and my entire body ignites."

Chills went through Katherine's body as Stefan cupped her cheek. The long dead, untouchable heart that was inside Katherine was beginning to race because she too felt as if her body was being lit afire.

"I kiss you and I know that I'm falling in love."

Stefan slowly leaned toward her and their lips pressed together tenderly. She pulled away after feeling a shock go through her system.

"I am in love with you," Stefan admitted.

"There's just so much you don't know about me, Stefan."

He had compared her to an angel when she was closer to a demon.

"More to learn and love."

"I must say good-night."

Her lips were still burning from their kiss and she wanted so much more, but she wasn't willing to risk exposure just yet.

"I've upset you?"

"No. You haven't upset me. You've just surprised me."

And he had. The feelings she had long shut off were reawakening and it was painful and overwhelming. "Until tomorrow."

She bid him good night and then went into her room.  
\----------  
"Go ahead, Stefan. Torture me, keep me captive, drain me of my blood until my body turns to dust. It'll never change the truth. I've never compelled your love. It was real, and so was mine."  
\----------  
"Dress! Ballerina!" Jenna shouted from her spot on the couch.

"Puppy, puppy. Puppy with a tutu," Caroline said.

"No, no!" Damon said.

Rebecca was amused. They were playing some kind of drawing game where one person drew and the rest guessed. Damon was drawing on a white board. A dog with a tutu on its waist.

"Okay. Dog, hound . . . hound dog," Jenna said. She was getting along with Damon now because Jenna was tipsy. "You Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dog."

But the fact that no one was guessing the right answer was starting to bore her, so . . .

"Dances with Wolves," both Mason and Rebecca said at the same time.

"Yes!" Damon said. "Mason and Rebecca win again."

"How is that a wolf?" Jenna asked.

Rebecca giggled and stood up to go to the kitchen where Elena was taking a peach cobbler out of a white box.

"Hey, how come you're missing the fun, Elena? Come be sociable."

"No, I'm good."

"Aunt Jenna is getting tipsy," Damon said, coming into the kitchen as well. He'd followed Rebecca into the room.

"Will you stop plying her with alcohol?" Elena asked.

"Well, I want her to like me," Damon said.

Elena closed the now-empty box and said, "How's operation Lockwood?"

"He's my new BFF."

Apparently the kitchen was becoming the new hangout spot, because Jenna was coming in also.

"There you are. Isn't this fun?"

"Yes, thank you so much for inviting me."

"Did I have a choice?" Jenna asked.

"I know what you must think about me," Damon began but was interrupted by Jenna.

"No, you don't. You have never dated you. I have dated many yous."

"Well, I'm a work in progress," Damon admitted.

He watched Elena hand Jenna a silver pie-scooper and his attention was diverted. "Ooh, these are fancy.

The Gilbert's had a whole set of silver eating utensils. He wondered if they were pure silver.

"Thanks. My mother's silver set," Jenna answered.

Damon watched recognition play over Elena's face. Damon wanted a piece of that silver because he wanted to stab Mason with it to prove he was a werewolf. Rebecca seemed to understand, too, because she gave him a knowing glance. She didn't seem angry at him so he assumed she was okay with it.  
\----------  
"Hearing the truth after a century and a half of denial must be overwhelming," Katherine said.

"It wasn't real. I remember you compelling me," Stefan said.

What Katherine had said about the Founder's ball had been true. He had said those things and he had felt those things . . . but that didn't change the fact that she had made him feel that way.

"Only after I showed you what I really was," Katherine said. "You were so scared of me, I had to take away your fear."

"Well, whatever feelings I had back then . . . they've all turned to hate."

"Love, hate. Such a fine line. I can wait." Katherine didn't sound like she wanted to wait, but he thought she sounded sincere in that she would. "Anyway, George Lockwood, he was causing all sorts of trouble. He used the vampires to cover up his own tracks. Told the Founding families about us. But he was willing to strike a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"A deal to rid the town of vampires."

Rid the town of vampires? Stefan thought. The church fire. The round up of the vampires.

"You knew that they were gonna burn the vampires in the church."

"I practically lit the match," Katherine said simply and without remorse.

"They were your friends. They were your family," Stefan said. And to think he'd ever loved this woman, this monster. "And you just sold them out."

Katherine nodded. "Without blinking. I was looking out for myself, Stefan. I always look out for myself."

"What did George get in return for giving you your freedom?"

"Something he wanted desperately."

Stefan almost couldn't control the rage that wanted to come forth. "So you sent 26 other people to their deaths just to fake your own."

Katherine sat up straighter but didn't answer and Stefan felt a sudden intuition. Katherine wasn't telling the truth.

"No, you were running from something. What was it?"

"Everyone has a past, Stefan. Mine needed to stay far, far away. But thanks to you, my plan nearly failed before it even began. Once George told me that the round up was imminent, I made sure I could see you one last time. But your father used my love for you against me. He poisoned your blood. Then Damon being Damon, nearly ruined everything."

"We came for you," Stefan said. "We tried to save you."

"I didn't want to be saved," Katherine snapped.

"So then Damon and I died for nothing! For nothing!"

Katherine leaned forward and said, "No, Stefan, you died for love."

"So are you gonna tell my why you came back or were you just playing another game?"

"Have you not heard a word that I've said? I've answered the question five times over now."

"A'right, good. Make it six."

Katherine said, "I want what I want, Stefan. And I don't care what I have to do to get it. My list of victims is a long one, and I have no problem adding one more to that list."

"Come on, Katherine. If you wanted Elena dead, you would've done it by now."

"Still can. If I have to, I will snap her neck like a twig and you know it."

At that Stefan broke a leg off of the chair he'd been sitting on and lunged at Katherine. He was going to stake her, but when it came right down to it, he couldn't. He didn't know why – he didn't owe this woman anything, but he backed off anyway.

"Guess you don't hate me as much as you thought you did."  
\----------  
At the Gilbert residence, Damon was bringing the peach cobbler to the table. Dinner had been delicious and had also been served before their little drawing game so now . . .

"Mason, why don't you start us off?" Damon offered, knowing the pie scooper was pure silver.

"Sure." Mason looked down, maneuvered the plate around so the silver utensil was facing Damon. Mason then proceeded to pick up a good-sized portion with his hand. Then, "What am I? I apologize. I'm an animal."

Rebecca hid a smile behind a glass of milk. Mason knew what Damon was up to. Rebecca found that hilarious for some reason.

"So, Mason, uh," Ric began, "you and Jenna never dated?"

"She was always lost in Logan Fell land."

"Oh, my first mistake," Jenna said. "Mason was a catch. He had girls lined up."

"Really?" Damon asked. "Ha. I always pegged you for a lone wolf."

"Oh. I'm sure I wasn't half the lady-killer you were," Mason said. He lifted the beer he had in front of him. "How about a toast? To new friends."

Damon, Jenna, Alaric and Mason clinked bottles and said cheers.

Rebecca found the back and forth banter between Mason and Damon kind of funny, but at the same time kind of exhausting. She wanted to tell the two guys to go ahead and unzip their pants, pull their goods out and measure. She understood that Damon wanted to out Mason, especially after what he'd done to her the night before, but the way it looked . . . Mason couldn't control himself when he turned; it hadn't been his fault. His wolf brain had seen a vampire and his instincts had kicked in.

"Would I be the worst friend in the world if I abandoned you and went to Stefan's?" Rebecca heard Elena say.

Caroline and Elena were cleaning up in the living room, missing dessert, while everyone else was in the kitchen.

"You wanna leave?" Caroline asked.

Rebecca excused herself from the table, and the only one who didn't glance at her was Damon. He had heard too. When she went into the living room she saw Caroline putting markers into a box and Elena putting the white board away.

"It's just he hasn't gotten back to me. I'm starting to get this bad feeling."

As well she should, Rebecca thought. Katherine was with Stefan. Maybe Rebecca shouldn't have left them alone. Katherine was stronger than both of the Salvatore brothers. If the vervain wore off . . . Stefan would get hurt – there was no could about it.

"Why don't we all go?" Rebecca said impulsively. "I mean, if you're that worried."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Becca," the blond said.

"Why not?" Elena asked. "Damon's got it under control here."

"Take it from me, there is nothing worse than a clingy girlfriend."

"I'm not being clingy," Elena said. "I'm –I'm just concerned. You understand, right?"

"Um . . . how about I drive you?" the blond offered.

"Yeah, okay. That'd be great. Thanks."

"You two go on out to the car," Rebecca said. "I'll be there in a second. I'm gonna –"

"Say goodbye to Damon," Elena and Caroline said in unison. Then Elena added, "We know."

The two girls left the house and Rebecca waited for Damon to come to her in the living room. She couldn't very well talk to him in front of everyone else. When she felt Damon behind her she turned around.

"Hey," she said. "I'm gonna go with them. Katherine is there and I can't send them to their almost certain deaths."

"I know," Damon said, stepping forward. "So be careful."

"Always am," Becca quipped.

"Right," Damon muttered, then smirked. "You have my permission to kill her this time if she gives you any trouble."

"Good," she said, leaning her face up for a kiss that Damon gladly returned. It was a swift but loving kiss and it was over far too quickly for either of their tastes, but Rebecca had to go.

Elena and Caroline were already waiting outside.  
\----------  
After Rebecca left Damon went back in the kitchen as everyone else – except Mason, who was lagging behind - was going into the living room.

"Jenna's bringing out Guitar Hero. Might be time to mutiny."

"Well, I just happen to like Guitar Hero. So you, my friend, are barking up the wrong tree."

Damon grabbed a glass and a bottle of bourbon, the one Mason had brought if he wasn't mistaken, and poured a little into the glass.

"Okay, enough with the innuendos. You win," Mason said. "You're hilarious."

"Thank you."

"Come on, man. You don't think I know what this barbecue's about?"

Damon leaned closer and said, "How do you know about me? Your brother was completely clueless."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not your enemy, Damon."

"You tried to kill Rebecca," Damon said dangerously. "You think I'm just gonna let you get away with that?"

"That was a mistake," Mason defended himself. "There was confusion. I couldn't chain myself up in time. I have no control once I shift."

"Aw, what? No obedience school?"

"I'm serious. Let's not spark some age-old feud that doesn't apply to us."

"You expect me to believe you're in Mystic Falls planting peace trees?" Damon asked. "Really?"

"I lost my brother. My nephew lost his father. I'm here for my family."

Damon didn't say anything else. Vampire looked at werewolf for a few seconds and then Mason held out his hand.

"Let's be above this."

Damon reluctantly shook Mason's hand and then watched him walk away. After making sure Mason was actually gone Damon went to the case that held the Gilbert's silver set and stealthily took the silver knife that was in it.

He didn't care what the werewolf said. He was a threat to Damon and a threat to the people Damon cared about. Mason had to be eliminated.  
\----------  
"Here we come," Caroline said. "To the rescue."

"Why're you being so snippy?" Elena asked. It was true. Ever since Elena, Rebecca, and Caroline had started toward the boardinghouse Caroline had been making comments about Stefan's and Elena's relationship.

"Oh, that's my own drama," the blond said. "I'm sure that you two will beat the odds. Not that there's any study to pull odds from."

"Care . . ." Rebecca said softly. "Cut it out."

"No, I mean, what is the ratio of success for vampire-human couplings? I'm guessing nil."

"Me and Damon did okay," Rebecca muttered.

"Not if you count the fact that you're a vampire now."

"Okay, Caroline."

"Sorry," she said and then there was a thump and a bump from the back of the car. "Oh, crap."

Rebecca knew that annoying bumping from anywhere. Flat tire. The girls got out of the car and Rebecca looked at the back left tire. She noticed something unusual. The valve that held the air in the tire was broken in half. The tire hadn't gone flat by running over a nail or anything like that; someone had broken the air valve.

"I'm just gonna call Jenna," Elena said, pulling out her phone.

"No, wait," Caroline said. "Let me call some tow people, I'll use my agro voice."

"Or we can just walk from here," Elena countered.

"I can't just leave my car."

"We'll come back for it," Elena assured her blond friend.

"Just give me a minute, Elena."

"Caroline, what part of 'I'm worried about Stefan' don't you understand?"

"What's the rush?" Caroline snapped.

While Elena and Caroline were going back and forth, Rebecca was taking everything in. The flat tire definitely hadn't happened on its own, Caroline's weird behavior. Something wasn't right.

"Why're you hurrying to get to a relationship that'll never work?"

"Look," Elena began, "I know that you're upset about Matt, but could you stop projecting it onto me and Stefan, please?"

"I'm not projecting anything," Caroline said. "You're human, he's a vampire. You're gonna be 70 and in diapers and he's still gonna be smoking hot. And you will never have his children, Elena, and you are too maternal to not have children."

Elena looked like she'd been hit in the face and said, "Where is this coming from?"

"I'm just trying to be your friend."

"Okay, well, do me a favor and stop trying." Elena walked past Caroline and said, "I'm gonna walk."

"No, Elena, don't. Don't leave me alone," Caroline said, grabbing Elena's arm tightly.

"Ow, Caroline. You're hurting me. What's wrong with you?"

Rebecca grabbed Caroline's arm and made her let go of the brunette. "Elena, go ahead. I have to talk to Caroline for a second. I'll catch up with you soon."

Elena walked away and Rebecca let go of Caroline.

"Okay. In the car. Now." Rebecca even opened the door for her. When the blond was securely inside Rebecca got in too.

"Okay, what's going on with you?" Rebecca said. "You let the air out of the tire and you're back to being speak-before-you-think Caroline."

Something was going on if Caroline's look was anything to go by. Her eyes were wide and she looked like a trapped animal.

"Care, you're scared. What's going on?"

"Matt," she whispered. "Matt's in danger."

"In danger from what? You're not with him anymore."

"Not from me," Caroline said. "From Katherine. She wants Elena and Stefan to break up. She's forcing me to help her, Rebecca. She came to me last night and –"

Rebecca saw red. Katherine was messing with everyone. Katherine wanted Stefan and Damon – Stefan because she supposedly loved him, and Damon who knew why? She was messing with Elena; she was forcing Caroline to help her by threatening Matt.

"Care, Care!" Rebecca grabbed her and tried to calm her down. "It's okay. Just breathe. Nothing is going to happen to Matt. Okay? We'll watch after him. But you can't really do what she wants. You know that, right?"

"I don't want to," Caroline replied. "But she –"

"Is an evil monster of death? Yeah, I know. But I'll help you. Okay? What you're gonna do is call a tow truck, okay?"

Caroline nodded. "And you?"

"I'm gonna go after Elena. Katherine is at the boardinghouse. If you see her before I get a chance to kill her, or at least scare the daylights out of her, play along. Don't let her know that you told me, okay?"

"Mm-hm."

Caroline was crying now and wiping her eyes, and Rebecca grabbed her hand. "Hey, it's okay."

"No, it's not. I'm a terrible friend. I – are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not. You're doing what anyone would do if they wanted to keep someone safe."

Caroline sniffled. "Are you gonna tell Damon? He'll try to kill me again."

"I won't if you don't want me to. And, no, he wouldn't. He owes you for taking care of me last night."

"Okay," the blond answered meekly. "Please don't tell him yet, though."

Rebecca wouldn't tell Damon if Caroline didn't want him to know. Even though she was loyal to Damon, she still knew how to be a good friend.  
\----------  
"I don't want you seeing Elena anymore," Katherine said. "If you don't remove her from your life, I will kill everyone that she loves while she watches and then I will kill her while you watch."

At that threat, Stefan snapped. He'd heard enough. He grabbed the stake he'd made from the chair – from when he'd broken the chair – and raced toward Katherine. He grabbed her throat and squeezed.

"Do not think for a second that I won't kill you," he hissed.

Before Stefan knew what was happening, Katherine had broken free of her restraints and pushed him against the wall.

"I have been sipping vervain every day for the last 145 years, Stefan. You caught me by surprise once. I wasn't gonna let it happen again."

Katherine was moving toward him slowly, menacingly.

"It doesn't hurt me, Stefan.

It almost sounded like she was giving him a survival tip. Maybe he would listen. But if it didn't hurt her, why had she spent all this time giving him information?

"I've missed you, Stefan," she said, almost like she'd read his mind. "I just wanted to spend some time with you."

Stefan heard a door open upstairs and then Elena was calling out for him. He looked at Katherine, who grabbed the stake from his hand and planted it in his leg. He yelled and watched Katherine leave the cellar, helpless to do anything about it.  
\----------  
Upstairs, Elena was calling for Stefan, but she wasn't getting an answer. Maybe he really wasn't there. Maybe she'd come here for nothing.

"Stefan, are you here?"

There was no trace of evidence that Stefan had been in the living room for a while. It didn't look like anyone had been except for the blood stain on the carpet and the glass beside it.

What had happened? Rebecca would've cleaned it up and Stefan wouldn't have been drinking from a glass. Someone else had been here. Elena felt the sudden need to make herself scarce, so she turned to leave, but her way was blocked by someone.

"Katherine," she muttered.

"You must be Elena," Katherine said, looking her up and down. It was almost as if Katherine had never seen her own reflection before.

"How is this possible? How do we look exactly alike?"

Elena had learned from the Petrova book Damon had given her that Katherine had been born June 22nd. Different year, of course, but Elena had been born on the 22nd of June too.

Katherine moved to stand right in front of Elena and the latter tensed. Katherine circled her and said, "You're asking the wrong questions."

"Elena!" That was Stefan's voice, so he was here. But by the time he'd gotten to her Katherine had disappeared.

"Stefan!"

"Are you okay?"

"Not really," Elena said, shaking her head. "Are you okay?" Stefan had blood on his pants. From the hole there, she assumed he'd been stabbed.

"Not really," he repeated her words.

He wrapped his arms around her and she returned the gesture. She wondered what had happened. Stefan had spent the better part of the day with Katherine. Rebecca had probably known that.

"Elena, we need to talk."  
\----------  
"No takers for more drinks at the Grill?" Mason asked. "It's like I'm with a bunch of adults here."

"I prefer the term role model," Jenna said.

It was only eight o'clock, but the barbecue was over. Everyone but Ric was getting ready to leave.

"Thanks for having me," Mason said, hugging Jenna. "It was awesome." Mason shook hands with Alaric before he left.

"Hey, you know, I should probably head out too," Damon said. He was planning on following Mason. "Jenna, you are a wonderful hostess."

He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. He took it as a good sign that she allowed that much.

"And you are a terrible artist."

"Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?" Damon asked.

"Still deciding," Jenna admitted.

"Good enough for me," Damon said, heading to the door.

Mason was just leaving and Damon was planning on keeping up with the Bronco. It was no problem. Mason parked near the back ally of the Grill. Damon was waiting for him as Mason got out of the vehicle.

"What, more dog jokes?"

"Nah, those got old."

Damon swiftly stuck the knife he'd borrowed into Mason's stomach. Mason fell to the ground.

"You really should stay away from dark allies," Damon said, walking past him. He planned on putting Mason back into his car after he died. Then Damon was going to drop the car off somewhere in the woods where no one would find it for a while.

Damon heard a clang and turned back around. Mason had pulled the knife out and was getting back onto his feet. So the silver hadn't worked.

"Ya know, I think it was werewolves who started this whole silver myth. Probably for moments like this."

"Duly noted," Damon said, feeling his fight-or-flight instincts kicking in.

Mason lifted a hand up to his shirt where blood was soaking through onto the material. "You know, I was really looking forward to last call," Mason stepped forward. "Now you've made an enemy. You and yours should watch their backs."


	11. Chapter Eleven

Rebecca was at the Grill with Caroline. Instead of going to the boardinghouse for Elena, she had called Stefan who had said Katherine had left already. Rebecca would've known that had she waited, because Katherine was at the Grill too.

When Caroline went to the bathroom Rebecca saw Katherine follow her. Rebecca decided to eavesdrop so she stood outside the bathroom door and listened.

"Care to share how you couldn't follow through with one simple task?" Katherine asked.

"I – I tried, okay? But I couldn't exactly kidnap my best friend."

"Occupy her. That's all I asked."

"I told her that her relationship was doomed and, ya know, all that mortality stuff, and I think, I – I really think that I got to her."

"I hope so. Because, let's not forget, I already killed you once. I can easily do it again."

Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door frame, waiting for Katherine to open the door. When the brunette did, Rebecca smiled almost pleasantly.

"Hello, Katherine," she said before pushing the older vampire back into the bathroom. "Aren't you looking healthy?"

Katherine looked more annoyed than afraid. "You show up everywhere. You're like a bad penny."

"Hm. Why're you here? And don't give me that 'I missed Stefan' crap. You wouldn't be here if you didn't have a reason. You had the last 145 years to find Stefan. Why this particular point in time?"

"Hm . . . Isn't someone smart? Of course I have a reason, which I will not be sharing with you."

"Figured you wouldn't." Rebecca looked at Caroline and then back at Katherine. "This is the third time I've spared your life, Kitty Kat. You owe me. So if you hurt anyone I love, don't expect it to happen a fourth time."

The truth was that Katherine was still living only because they were in a public place. If Rebecca had caught her outside or somewhere secluded, Katherine would no longer be breathing air.

"Come on, Care."

Caroline walked away and Rebecca followed her, keeping herself between Katherine and Caroline. They took a seat at a table and, right after, Elena and Stefan walked in.

"Elena?" Caroline called.

"Hey." The brunette turned to her. Rebecca could tell Elena was still a little angry at the blonds' earlier antics. Elena had every right to be. Rebecca used to get furious whenever Elena would talk about Damon's and her relationship, but if only Elena knew what was going on . . .

Stefan patted Elena's shoulder and gestured to a table. He would wait for her while Elena talked to Caroline.

"Oh, I am so sorry about earlier today. I don't – I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, Caroline. Everything that you were saying was right. It's just hard for me to hear, ya know?"

"So you're not mad at me?" Caroline asked, surprised.

"You were just being a good friend . . . in your own way."

"Yeah, my own head case, horrible way."

Elena smiled softly and turned toward the table Stefan was sitting at.

"Elena, I really am sorry."

Elena nodded and went to the table. Rebecca watched the brunette sit down and then focused on what Elena and Stefan were saying.

"I'm starving," she heard Stefan say.

"Well, spending a day with your jealous ex will do that do you," Elena responded, looking down at a menu.

"Look, I know you're upset, okay. But we have to take her seriously. Today was all about the lengths she will go to."

"If she was going to hurt me, she would've. I was standing right in front of her."

"Elena, you caught her off-guard. It doesn't mean that you're safe."

"I'm not afraid of her," Elena said firmly.

"Well, you should be."

"Look, if Katherine had her way, we'd be breaking up right now," Elena said.

"And if today taught me anything, it's that Katherine's used to getting her way."

"You're not actually saying that we should do what she says . . ."

Rebecca looked at Caroline, who was also eavesdropping. Rebecca was taking notes. If Katherine was doing this to Elena and Stefan, then maybe she would do the same to her and Damon.

"Listen, she's sadistic, okay?" Stefan said. "She threatened you. She threatened everyone."

"Yeah, no, I get it, okay? She's dangerous. But everyday that we're together is dangerous. Why are you giving her so much power over our relationship?"

"Because it's the reality of our situation."

"Well, reality sucks. This is what she wants. She wants us to fight. She wants to get between us."

"She already has, Elena."

Rebecca watched as Elena took that in, stood up, and walked away. Was that it, then? Were Elena and Stefan really breaking up? Because of Katherine? They couldn't do what Katherine wanted. The spoiled brat needed to learn that she couldn't always get what she wanted.

Rebecca stood up, getting ready to go to Stefan and give him what for, when someone stepped in front of her. Usually Damon did that, but this time it wasn't Damon; it was Mason. She could tell right away because of that very distinct smell Mason gave off. Now that Rebecca knew that Mason was a werewolf, she knew what he smelled like. It was a distinctly canine smell.

"Mason," she said, voice catching because he'd frightened her. "What're you doing here?"

"Getting a drink," Mason said. "Come have one with me."

The way Mason was talking, Rebecca knew it was serious. And . . . was he bleeding?

Rebecca looked at Caroline and raised a brow in question. She wanted to know if the girl was going to be okay.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Rebecca followed Mason to the bar where Mason ordered a beer. She had to compel the bartender to pour her a shot of tequila and give her a bottle of beer. She downed the shot instantly and enjoyed the burn in her throat as the liquid went down.

"Why're you bleeding?" she asked. His T-shirt was covered by a button-up shirt, but she could still smell the blood coming from him. "What happened?"

"Your boyfriend happened," Mason said. "He stabbed me. Right outside, actually."

"Damon," she muttered. "I'm sorry. He's angry because of what happened in the woods last night."

"I know." Mason touched Rebecca lightly on the arm. "I'm sorry for that, by the way."

Rebecca smiled softly. "I know that. You used to let me ride on your back while you pretended to be a pony. Of course you wouldn't mean to hurt me. Damon is just . . . protective. Plus . . . one bite from you would've killed me. Damon can't stand the thought of me being hurt."

"You don't seem angry at me," Mason said.

"I'm not," Rebecca said simply. "You didn't mean to do it."

Suddenly another person occupied a stool beside Rebecca and a hand covered the hand that was holding her beer. Damon had appeared.

"What's going on?" Damon asked. "Why're you with him?"

"Just having a drink," Rebecca told him. "Why?"

"With him?" Damon expressed emphatically. "You know what he is, what he did to you!"

"And I don't care!" Rebecca said firmly but quietly. "He never meant to hurt me. He couldn't help it. He apologized just now."

"Oh, well, that just makes it all okay, doesn't it?" Damon snapped. He looked at Mason once and then back at Rebecca. He grabbed her by the elbow. "Come on, we're going."

"What?" Rebecca stood firm. "No, I just sat down."

"You can drink at home," Damon said. "Promise, now, come on!"

"Damon, no! Stop acting like a Neanderthal and let me go." Rebecca had thought Damon had gotten over his caveman tendencies a few months back, but here he was acting all jealous again. "I'll be fine."

Damon set his jaw and stood up. "Whatever, but if he hurts you, don't saw I didn't warn you."

Rebecca watched Damon walk away and bit her lip. He was angry with her – he was worried, too, about her safety.

"Is he always so . . . charming?" Mason asked.

Rebecca smiled. "He's just worried. He's usually not so bad. He's always territorial, though."

"Hm."

Rebecca ordered another shot and downed that as quickly as she had the first. She felt Damon watching her and turned toward him, just to look. He was watching her with a very intense expression on his face. He really didn't like that she was having a drink with Mason.

"So how long have you and Damon been together?" Mason asked.

"About seven months," she answered.

Rebecca took a sip of her beer and a little came out of her mouth when she noticed red stains on his button-up shirt. She sputtered a little and Mason picked up a napkin and cleaned her chin.

"What? You okay?"

"Blood," she whispered. "Shirt."

Mason looked down and frowned. "Crap."

"Are you still hurt?" Rebecca asked concerned. "How deep did Damon stab you?"

"No, I healed. I just didn't change clothes."

"Oh."

Mason grabbed her hand briefly and grinned. "You're still as sweet as I remember, Becca."

She grinned back and felt herself blush. "Thanks, but I can be a handful when I wanna be."

"I bet," the werewolf said.

When Rebecca went to search for Damon she saw that he was no longer there. It was only when Mason began playing with her hair that Rebecca realized that maybe the werewolf had wanted Damon gone.  
\----------  
Outside the Grill, Damon began walking home but, this being Mystic Falls, he didn't make it home without first running into a problem.

Katherine.

"Bad day?" she asked.

"Bad century," Damon countered. "Heard you were on the loose."

"What's the matter? Jealous I spent the day with Stefan?"

"I don't do jealous. Not with you. Not anymore."

"Then why so pouty?"

Damon began walking away and Katherine followed him.

"Tried to kill a werewolf and failed. Now I feel like I'm not living up to my best self."

"Well, werewolves aren't easy prey," Katherine admitted.

"What d'you know about werewolves?"

"Why don't you ask your brother? Or Rebecca? She's getting awfully friendly with one right now. Maybe you're not enough to satisfy her in quite the way she needs. Maybe she needs a little animal in her man."

Damon growled in his throat but held himself in because he couldn't attack Katherine in public. She had hit a nerve. He'd been watching Rebecca flirting with Mason. Maybe she'd been doing it unintentionally, but she had been doing it, nonetheless.

Instead of answering Katherine, he just turned around.

"Don't try to be the hero, Damon. You'll end up dead."

"Been there, done that. At least this time it'll be worth it."  
\----------  
Damon walked into the boardinghouse fuming angry. Rebecca had been flirting with that Mason guy as if Damon hadn't existed. As if the months that they'd been together hadn't mattered to her at all. And she'd been doing it on purpose. Damon knew that she'd been doing it to get back at him for trying to make her leave with him, for, in her words, acting like a Neanderthal.

Damon wasn't too worried. Being faithful was engrained in Rebecca's personality, but that didn't make it hurt any less, and it didn't make it any less distracting. He hadn't been able to focus on anything after seeing her and Mason together.

Rebecca had driven him into a jealous rage, something Damon thought he'd gotten out of. Apparently not, though, because right then it didn't matter what Mason was . . . Damon wanted the man dead.

Damon growled with frustration. He knew part of his anger was due to his conversation with Katherine. What if what she'd said was true? What if Rebecca was losing interest? What if he was becoming boring to her? Maybe she needed more excitement; maybe he was becoming too predictable.

Damon heard the front door open and close so he turned around. Rebecca was there, but she wasn't looking at him; maybe she was pretending he wasn't there.

Rebecca put her keys on the table by the door and then she went upstairs. Damon glared at her back and cursed himself for wanting to follow her, but he did follow her. He realized she was going into their room. She almost closed the door in his face. Slowly, he reached for the door knob; he knew they were either going to fight or make up – or both.  
\----------  
Rebecca's heart stopped when Damon came into the room. She knew they were about to come to blows. She'd seen how angry he had become at the Grill, and how hurt. That was why she'd been looking for him when she'd figured out what Mason had been up to. He'd wanted to rile Damon up. Maybe Mason had a death wish or maybe he was just trying to pay Damon back for stabbing him. Either way, it had put a rift between her and Damon.

Once Rebecca had figured out that Mason had intentionally been flirting with her, she'd left the Grill, had run back to Elena's to get her car, and now she was back at the boardinghouse. She couldn't believe she'd defended Mason, that she'd chosen to have a drink with him over leaving with Damon. She'd acted selfishly and spitefully and . . . so Katherine-like. She'd known Damon had been worried about her hanging with Mason because of the werewolf thing and she'd chosen to do so only because of how Damon had commanded she leave.

"Hello, Damon," she said softly, taking in the hard, cold set of his face. She wanted to apologize, promise she would never do that again, but his eyes were gazing at her coldly. The usual warmth he considered her with was gone, and it was her own fault. She knew Damon probably wouldn't accept an apology now, not when the wound was so fresh.

She saw a muscle tick along Damon's jaw, a further reminder that he was . . . irrational. Then the slamming of the door made her flinch when she heard it; she was surprised that the wood didn't crack.

"Damon . . ."

He wouldn't hurt her, would he? She'd made him angry before and he had never attempted to harm her, but, then again, she'd never intentionally hurt him before, either. Then she saw his eyes drop to the bed. Then he looked back at her.

It had been a while since they'd made love – because of a hundred little things, almost none of which had been their own faults – and his insinuation was clear. He thought having sex would cure the problem. Not realistic, but he was a man, so he probably thought sex would solve every one of their issues.

Neither of them moved and neither of them spoke. Rebecca wasn't sure she wanted to be with Damon when he was angry at her. She'd been with him when he'd been angry, yes, but never when he'd been angry with her; it had been an outlet for him. She didn't want to risk having all of the good memories of them together erased because of one night. But she felt she owed him something for doing what she'd done. So . . . she lifted shaky hands to the hem of her shirt and began pulling it up. They both heard it when the material hit the wood. Damon was just staring at her, eyes still cold with his arms crossed over his chest. Maybe this hadn't been what he'd wanted, after all, and she was just making a fool of herself. She just felt that he was appraising her.

"Damon, I-" She wanted to tell him he was making her extremely uncomfortable, but he cut her off.

"Shut up," he said firmly. "And take your pants off."

"What?" Rebecca asked, affronted. He hadn't really just ordered her to get naked, had he?

"You heard me. We both know you're only doing this to make up for flirting with what's-his-name, so . . . take your pants off."

How dare he treat her this way, like he only wanted her body, like she hadn't been there for him countless times since she'd met him? But she would play for now. She wanted to see how far he would take whatever this was.

When she was bare in front of him she could see he was struggling with the mask of indifference he was trying to hold firmly in place.

"We can't play if you're not undressed too," she said softly.

A hint of softness filled Damon's eyes and she relaxed a bit even though it left his gaze almost immediately. She knew, though, that Damon wasn't so angry that he would lose control; he wouldn't hurt her accidentally.

"Come undress me then," he said, still sounding authoritative.

Rebecca realized that this had now become a game – or it could be if she played along. She would be the submissive, she guessed. Damon was her master. Maybe this was what he needed after watching her with Mason.

Master or not, she wouldn't let Damon spank her; she was a little old for such punishments. She walked forward and, with slightly shaking hands, began unbuttoning his shirt. On the last button, Damon grabbed her hands.

It was hot having her play to his every whim, but he wasn't going to make her do this if she didn't want to. He would never force anything sexual on her; he would never hurt her that way. He was well aware of the fact that some girls were not into the whole sex-slave fantasy. Some found it degrading and he didn't want her feeling that way towards him in regards to, well, anything.

"Becca, stop." Damon took a deep breath. "Look in my eyes and tell me you're okay with this." He would not do anything to make her hate him, not like this. He had seen the apprehension on her face and body, and he didn't like that she'd been scared of him, even if it had been for only a second.

"That depends," Rebecca said. "Is this real? Or are we just playing a game?"

Damon scoffed a little. "Both." Damon knew this was her first time doing anything like this so he said, "Tell me to stop and I will."

"Then yes," she said, looking at him. "I'm okay with this."  
\----------  
"Mm . . . We needed that," Rebecca said.

"Mm-hm," Damon agreed whole-heartedly.

"Damon?"

He found her hand and laced their fingers together, naturally, like they'd never been fighting to begin with.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to be such a . . . bitch. I just don't know what to do with myself when we're fighting. I don't like it."

"Well, then let's not fight," he said simply. "Not ever again."

The last part was a tease, but Rebecca agreed that they should try not to let things get like this for them. When Damon was worried, Rebecca should take that into account. When Rebecca was having fun with a guy, he should remember she would never stray far from Damon's side. She would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship.

"Damon?"

"Hm?" His voice was sleepy and almost incoherent.

"I love you."

Damon squeezed her hand and said, "I love you too."

Then he lazily flopped down beside her, pulled her halfway on top of him, and closed his eyes.

"Damon?" she said again.

"Hm?"

She giggled when she got the same eloquent response.

"Can we play this game again? Only without us being mad at each other first."

Damon's eyes opened then and he smirked. "You submitting to my sexual fantasies? We're definitely playing that game again."  
\----------  
Tyler Lockwood had been waiting for Mason to get back from the barbecue for a while now. He wanted to talk to his uncle. He wanted to know a few things. For starters . . . how did one become a werewolf? Mason had said something about a curse, but that Tyler wouldn't trigger it himself. How was Mason so sure about that?

When his uncle finally got home Tyler said, "How was that barbecue?"

"Not great. You still mad?"

"You still keepin' secrets?"

"Yup."

"Then I'm still mad."

Mason nodded and turned to go upstairs. Tyler, who had been sitting on the couch, stood up. "Hey. I was thinkin', you know, about that stone you're lookin' for. I might know a couple places it could be."

Mason turned to him and glared. "Do you think this is a joke?" Mason came into the living room. "If you know where it is, then tell me."

"Tell me how the curse is triggered."

"No. If I tell you, you won't be able to think about anything else. I don't want that for you."

"I think I can handle it," Tyler said.

"Yeah, you think you can handle it, tough guy?" Mason shook his head. "You have no idea."

"You want your stupid rock or not?"

"Tell me where it is!" Mason exclaimed, grabbing Tyler by the collar of his shirt and shoving him against the wall.

"Tell me what triggers the curse!"

"You have to kill somebody! Human blood," Mason snapped. "You take another person's life away from them, then the curse is yours forever. Can you handle that?"

Tyler just looked at his uncle. Mason had killed someone? Why? And how had that triggered the curse? He'd ended up with even more questions. Why wouldn't Mason just explain to him what was going on?

Tyler realized he needed to hold on to the moonstone just a little longer. It made for a great bargaining chip.  
\----------  
After leaving the Grill Elena went straight home. After her fight with Stefan she had wanted to be alone. Actually, she'd wanted to be with Stefan, but they couldn't leave together. Elena had noticed Caroline paying close attention to their conversation. Something was up with her.

But even though she hadn't left with Stefan, she knew he'd be waiting for her in her bedroom – and so he was.

"You okay?" he asked.

Elena shook her head and then went to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I hated that fight."

"I know. Me too," Stefan said, bringing up a hand to play with her hair. "It felt too real."

Elena drew away a little and kissed Stefan before saying, "Did you see Caroline? We were right. Katherine got to her; she was hanging onto every single word."

"Then it won't be long before Katherine gets a play-by-play."

"I wish I was wrong, but I know Caroline too well. It was so obvious that something was up today."

"You're not wrong," Stefan said. "It's pure Katherine. She's always finding someone to do her dirty work."

"I'm pretty sure Rebecca was listening to us fight too. Should I tell her that it wasn't real?"

Stefan shook his head. "The only way Katherine is going to believe it is if everyone believes it. It's the best way to make her think she's getting what she wants."

Elena looked down at the floor and said. "All this . . . just to get you back."

"That's not why she's here, okay?" Stefan cupped her cheek with one hand and played with her hair with his other. "No matter what she says, I know her. Katherine doesn't care about anybody but herself. She never has. She's incapable of love; she's here for another reason."

Elena hoped so, because she really didn't want to be in competition for Stefan's affection for the rest of her life. Especially not with a vampire that was Stefan's ex.


	12. Chapter Twelve

"So, you've killed someone?" Tyler asked Mason.

Ever since Mason had snapped at him about what triggered the curse of the werewolf, they had been talking about it.

"I didn't mean to. I was out drinking and one of my buddies accused me of messing with his girl. Blows were thrown and I lost control. We were in the parking lot and his head hit the asphalt because I tackled him."

"Wait. The guy died? You killed him?"

Tyler and Mason had moved to the study that had previously belonged to Tyler's father. Tyler was sitting on a sofa and Mason had perched on the arm of it.

"He kept coming at me," Mason said. "He got in his head that I was sleeping with his girlfriend."

"Well, were you?"

"No. No, I wouldn't do that. He was my friend. He was drunk and he attacked me. It was self-defense."

"And it triggered the curse?" Tyler asked. "Even though it was an accident."

"On every full moon, I lose control. If I don't sedate and chain myself down, I'll kill everything in my path. You have to be careful. All it takes is an accident, a car wreck. Any death at your hands and you'll have a lifetime of this. You don't want it, Tyler. Trust me."

All Tyler could think about was the fact that Caroline Forbes had almost died at his hands. A car wreck, like Mason had said. If the cheerleader had died, Tyler would've turned this past full-moon.

"A'right, where's the moonstone?" Mason asked. "Deal's a deal. I answered your questions."

"Um . . ." Tyler stood up. "Yeah, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's in here. My dad was very kooky about his hiding spots, but I've figured most of them out over the years."

Tyler had to move a chair off of the carpet so he could push the side of it up. Just like the first time he'd done this, he had to pull a plank of wood up and off the floor so he could get to what was underneath. He then put the combination in so Mason could go through the vaults contents.

"It's all yours. You gonna tell me what's so important about the rock or what?"

"I told you, it's just something I want. Sentimental value."

"Yeah, I'm not really buyin' that. It's a moonstone. You're a werewolf. You're sort of controlled by the moon. Why do you really want it?"

"Do you know where it is or not?"

"No. I figured it'd be in here, man. It's where Dad kept pretty much everything."

Tyler took notice of Mason's disappointed expression. What if the moonstone held a cure for Mason and what if Tyler was withholding said cure? But, for some reason, Tyler didn't trust Mason. If things were completely on the up and up, Mason would just tell him what the stone was for, right?  
\----------  
"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf," Jeremy said, standing in the doorway of his and Elena's bathroom.

"We're not sure about that yet," Elena said. "The only thing we're sure of is that Mason Lockwood is."

"That should be easy enough for us to figure out,' Jeremy muttered.

"There is no us," Elena said sternly. "I said that I wouldn't keep things from you anymore. That doesn't mean that I want you involved in it." Elena didn't want this life for Jeremy. Jeremy had so many options for his future she was a little envious. Jeremy could draw really well; he was a bright student when he applied himself. He could live a normal life if he so chose.

"By definition of being in this family, I'm involved." Jeremy showed her the ring that Rebecca had given him that had once belonged to John Gilbert, who had gotten it from their father, John's brother. "I mean, you're a doppelganger, one of my friends is a vampire, one is a witch, and my history teacher is a vampire hunter . . . Need I go on?"

"This is dangerous, Jeremy. You need to stay out of it, okay?"

"A'right. Just sayin'."

Jeremy went back into his room and Elena went to hers. She had a lot to think about, the least of which was the next day. Pretty much the whole town was going to be at an annual clean up party thing. It was mostly for kids and teens, but everyone was invited to show up at the new recreational park to help get rid of weeds, litter, and, if needed, people would paint park signs, benches, picnic tables, and the like.

It helped younger people become aware of their environment and the dangers people were the cause of. It was for a good cause and she and her friends had helped out every year for as long as she could remember.

Maybe it would be fun?  
\----------  
The next morning Elena awoke to Stefan shaking her gently.

"Hey," he said, smiling softly.

"Hi," she said sleepily.

"You ready for today?"

"No. I hate fighting with you, even if it's fake." And this would be a performance for the whole town to see.

"I know, but if Katherine thinks that we're fighting then she'll think that she's winning, and that keeps her from following through on her threats."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier. Neither does knowing Caroline will be there reporting everything back to her."

"Hey, everything's gonna be okay. We have to keep up this ruse for a little while, but it's the best way to keep Katherine from hurting anybody, from hurting you."

"Just promise me that she won't get her way with us," Elena worried. "We can fake fight and we can pretend that her threats are tearing us apart, but none of it's real, okay?"

"Okay, how about this? Today, when we're fighting, if I say, 'I can't do this, anymore, Elena' . . . what I really mean is that I love you."

Elena smiled. "And when I say, 'Fine, Stefan, whatever . . ." it really means I love you too."

"Deal," Stefan said. "Now, come on. We can't actually make it to the picnic/clean-up if you don't get out of bed."

"Ohh," Elena exclaimed. "Torture."  
\----------  
"Damon . . ." Damon heard Rebecca call his name, but didn't open his eyes. He was comfortable just the way he was. "Come on. You gotta wake up. We have that historical society picnic thing."

She began circling his pec with her fingers and then after he sighed a little she trailed down his abs to his hip bones and back up.

"Hm, we're not going anywhere if you keep doing that."

Rebecca actually lifted the covers and looked underneath them and said, "Well, I think we can spare thirty minutes. For your friend there."

"Yes, ma'am," Damon muttered. "That's not a problem at all."

Rebecca giggled when Damon used vampire speed to get on top of her and cover her face and neck with kisses.  
\----------  
A little over thirty minutes later, Damon and Rebecca came downstairs ready to leave. They were both in a good mood.

"Can I drive?" Rebecca asked. "That Charger you got me hasn't really gotten much use at all."

"Sure."

They got into her Charger and went to the Falls, which was were the Historical Society was busy setting up. It was also where half the town was. People were hammering; people were raking and mowing; people were sawing. The Mayor was making a speech.

"This is a part of the Historical Society's continuing efforts to give back to the community. Thanks to the generous donations of the Fell and Stone families we are now standing on the site of our newest public park. Thank you to everyone today who has shown up to lend a helping hand."

"I didn't know your dad made a donation to help build this place," Damon said.

"Me neither. Anyway, I'm gonna call him. We need to have a chat about Chelsea."

"What about Chelsea?" Damon asked.

"I've decided, after a long inner argument, that we can't give Chelsea up yet, or at all. At first it was John and Chase and now it's Katherine. There's always something that's going to be after us and, by association, her. We're not gonna protect her by giving her up. We'll protect her by keeping her with us."

"And Robert and Tina?" Damon asked. "What about them?"

"Right. Well, Robert still wants to move to California to be with her, but he's going to wait for your old house to be built, I think. Plus he knows Chelsea is attached to me and he doesn't want to cause her any trauma. He's been off vervain for a few days. I can compel him to forget about us at some point. Then Chelsea . . . Chelsea will be ours, Damon."

Rebecca bit her lip. "Are you sure you're ready for that. You'd be like a real life Daddy."

"We'd play house, huh?" Damon asked.

Damon had to admit . . . it was an awesome feeling. He'd get to see Chelsea grow up. He'd get to be there through everything. But no matter the appeal of the thought of raising Chelsea . . . it was also frightening. Chelsea was human and vulnerable.

"Look, you go find your sister. I'm gonna go find mine."

"Um . . . you don't have a sister."

Damon smirked. "Of course I do. Stefan."

"And all this time I could've sworn he has male parts."

"I didn't think you cared about anyone's male parts but mine."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Damon."  
\----------  
Stefan and Elena had arrived at the picnic about thirty minutes before Damon and Rebecca. Ever since, he'd been looking for Mason Lockwood. He'd heard about what Damon had done to Mason and wanted to make sure the werewolf wasn't planning anything stupid.

Stefan finally found Mason unpacking one of the supply trucks. Mason stopped working when he saw Stefan.

"Stefan, right? The other Salvatore?"

"The nice one," Stefan agreed.

"Hm."

"The one offering an apology."

"Not interested."

"Look, my brother acted impulsively. If you and Damon keep at each other's throats somebody innocent is gonna get hurt and I don't want that. You have family here, so I can't imagine you'd want that either. So what d'you say we just quit the whole alpha-male fighting thing. Just call it a truce."

"I made that same offer to your brother," Mason said. "He turned me down, with a knife."

"He made a mistake. And I'm here to make sure neither one of you make another one."

Mason grabbed a box and said, "Tell your brother to watch his back," before beginning to walk away.

Stefan grabbed Mason's arm as the threat registered in his mind.

"I'm guessing he only has to worry about that on a full moon. Otherwise, you're not as strong, am I right? Or you would've killed Damon by now. There's one of you; there's two of us. Three, if you go after Damon. I think you're the one that needs to watch his back."

Mason's jaw stretched taut as he clenched it. He seemed to be considering what Stefan had said. "If he comes at me . . ."

"He won't," Stefan promised.

The two men shook hands and then Mason left. A few seconds later, Damon appeared.

"What're you doin'?" Damon had seen Stefan talking to Mason.

"Negotiating peace on your behalf."

"But I don't want peace."

"Well, consider it opposite day."

"Stefan . . . please don't tell me you seriously think a handshake just solved all our problems." Damon was just checking because Stefan could be a little naive sometimes.

"No, actually, I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets . . . he's gonna drive a stake through your heart and then through mine. All because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So thank you, because we don't have enough problems."  
\----------  
After talking with Stefan, Mason felt the need to protect himself more than ever. He dropped off the box of supplies he'd gotten from the truck and the sheriff thanked him.

"Hey, you got a second?" he asked.

"Sure."

"I was hopin' to talk to you about the council."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you and the other founding families have a secret council."

"If that were true then you know it's a secret and isn't discussed with non-council members." Liz gave him a knowing and severe look.

"I know I rejected all that, but that's only because I wanted a life outside of this town. Not because I was a non-believer. Look, I know vampires exist. And you have two of them living right here under your nose."

"Really? And who would they be?"

"Damon and Stefan Salvatore," he said firmly.

"That's impossible," Liz said. "I know Damon Salvatore. Do you know what he's done for this town? I have watched him kill vampires. He's an ally; he's part of the council."

"Think about it," Mason said impatiently. "When did the vampire attacks begin? When Damon and Stefan Salvatore moved to town."

"They walk in the sun, Mason."

"They've evolved. It's not 1864. They've figured it out, Liz."

Liz shook her head. "No. Damon Salvatore is my friend."

"What if I can prove it to you?"  
\----------  
"So, suddenly, she's in the running for Mother of the Year just when I'm trying to avoid her the most."

Caroline, Rebecca – along with Chelsea – and Elena, were headed toward some benches that needed to be painted. Chelsea couldn't help much, of course, but she was still being included.

"Then what happened?" Elena asked Caroline.

"Well, I was a bitch. Which is par for the course with us. So . . . how are things with you and Stefan? Anything?"

"No, not since the fight."

Caroline glanced at Rebecca and Rebecca gave her a small nod. Rebecca had told her to act like everything was normal, which meant she had to pretend to be Katherine's lapdog.

"He's been pushing me away because he thinks that Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt me. I just don't know how to change his mind."

"You said that Katherine's dangerous. Maybe he's got a point."

"Yeah . . . I know that she's dangerous, and I know that he's just trying to protect me, but it feels like giving up. And I – I just . . . I just thought that we were stronger than that."

Rebecca was sorry that Elena and Stefan were fighting because of Katherine. Katherine seemed to cause friction no matter who was involved.

"If it makes you feel any better, she got between Damon and me, too, for a little bit, when she first got here," Rebecca admitted. "Stefan will see he's wrong, you'll see."  
\----------  
"Hey, I saw you talking to Mason earlier," Damon said, walking up to Liz. "What was that about? Is he in trouble already?"

"No, I just asked him to help with the clean up in the woods."

"Well, that's what I'm here for. Put me to work. Should I go help him?"

"Oh, no, no. You know what, he's – I'm sure he's fine."

Liz seemed odd. She was stuttering and she never stuttered. She was the sheriff and she was usually sure of herself, confident.

"Are you okay, Liz?" Damon asked, concerned. "You seem really upset."

"It's Caroline. We had a moment."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, Damon. Thank you." Liz smiled a little. "You just wait until Chelsea gets Caroline's age."

"Oh, no." Damon shook his head. "Horror of all horrors."

"Hopefully you have better parenting skills than I do."

"You mean, hopefully Rebecca does. I'm learning as I go."  
\----------  
The girls were still painting, only now they were fixing up the picnic area. They were working with a group of boys who were marking wood to be cut. Stefan was part of that group. Elena and Stefan kept looking at each other.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," the brunette said.

"No, Elena. I think it's a bad idea."

Elena strolled away and Rebecca watched her go to Stefan. Her attention was diverted, however, when Damon showed up beside her.

"What's her problem?"

"Don't worry about it," Caroline said.

Damon sighed. "Why're you being such a bitch to your mom?"

"Don't worry about it," Caroline repeated and walked away.

Rebecca tuned Damon and Caroline out so she could overhear what Elena was saying to Stefan.

"Do you still care about Katherine?"

"Don't do this, please," Stefan said. "Don't turn this into something that it's not."

"So this isn't up for discussion? That's what you're saying?"

"No, I'm saying this isn't up for discussion right now because we have ears on us."

Elena and Stefan looked toward Rebecca, Damon, and Caroline. All three looked away at the same time and Rebecca giggled a little.

"Sorry, Stef," she said.

"No, we're not," Damon said, amused, and it got another laugh from Rebecca.

Rebecca handed Damon a paint brush and pointed him toward a paint can.

"Here, work. Paint. Don't make a mess."

"Bossy," Damon quipped.

Damon noticed that Rebecca had even given Chelsea a paint brush – one for a child – and her own piece of wood to paint. So far, Chelsea had used green, blue, and a horrid pink color to make . . . something. Damon wasn't sure what the piece of art could be called since it consisted mostly of squiggly lines and blobs of paint. She was a mess, had paint all over her clothes and her face.

"She hasn't been eating that, has she?" Damon asked.

Rebecca shrugged. "It's for kids, so it's unleaded and not harmful. I wouldn't have left her to herself otherwise."

"Good point."

"I didn't want her to feel left out."

Damon helped Caroline and Rebecca finish the benches all the while listening to Elena's and Stefan's conversation.

"I saw her, Stefan. It's like we're the same person. How could you hate her and be in love with me?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes; apparently she was listening too.

"Tell her she's nothing like Katherine," Rebecca said. Damon smirked because he knew she was talking to Stefan. Stefan glanced their way and Rebecca sent him an innocent smile.

"I can't do this anymore, Elena."

"Fine, Stefan, whatever."

The way Elena and Stefan were looking at each other almost made Rebecca laugh. They were arguing, if one could call it that, and they were still making googly eyes at each other.

"Hm. Some argument," Rebecca muttered. "They don't even sound mad at each other."

"Relationships are about communication," Damon said.

Elena walked away from Stefan, and Caroline left Damon and Rebecca to go after her. Rebecca didn't know if she was being a good friend or pretending to report back to Katherine. Or both.

Rebecca needed to let Damon know about Katherine and Caroline, but she needed to figure out a way to tell him without him getting angry afterwards. Maybe she could –

Chelsea let out a sudden cry and both Damon and Rebecca whipped their heads toward her. Then they almost collided when they moved to get to her.

The smell of blood hit Rebecca's nose and she realized Chelsea had hurt herself. When she and Damon reached the little girl they realized Chelsea had sliced her finger open on a sharp piece of wood.

"Hey, it's okay," Damon said, picking her up, careful not to jostle her too much. "It's okay."

"I'm gonna go get her something. We need to clean her cut."

Damon nodded but was almost completely immersed in helping Chelsea feel better. Rebecca knew Chelsea was in good hands, so she didn't feel too bad going to get the first aid kit.  
\----------  
Jeremy Gilbert was with Tyler Lockwood at the mansion Tyler called home. The two guys had met up at the Grill, found two girls whose names were Aimee and Sarah, and were now partying at Tyler's house.

"Ooh, can I see?" Sarah asked Jeremy, referring to his sketch pad that he'd left in his book bag on the couch.

"No way," Jeremy said. He had things in there that people shouldn't see.

"I wanna see," Aimee said.

"Yeah, let's see," Tyler said. "What's Van Gogh got goin' on?"

It was Tyler's vote that did it. Tyler actually seemed to be trying to make amends for his past behavior. He wasn't being snide or rude. He was really interested.

"Okay. Yeah, check it out," he told Sarah.

"Okay." Sarah flipped to the first page. "A . . . scary-demon-wolf thing."

It fact, every page had some kind of wolf on it. Usually just the head surrounded by darkness.

"What's this about?" Tyler asked.

"Just some sketches," Jeremy said. Truth was that Jeremy hadn't been able to think of anything but werewolves since he'd found out that Tyler might be one. "You still draw, Tyler?"

"A little, but not much. You know, I've got somethin' that I'm actually workin' on. Come on, I'll show you."

"Yeah, okay, sure."

"I mean, it's nothin' special. It's pretty much amateur hour over here."

"Oh, no. I've seen your stuff before. It's great."

Tyler led Jeremy to his dad's old study and told Jeremy to look on the desk.

Jeremy went further into the study and did as Tyler had told him. "Uh . . ." He heard the door click shut. "I don't really see it anywhere."

Jeremy was suddenly pushed back against the wall. Tyler had slammed him into it. Tyler was choking him.

"What're those pictures about, huh?"

"I can't – I can't breathe!"

"Answer me!" Tyler said. "Why? Why wolf pictures?"

"Because – because I know."

Tyler looked confused, but he also decided it was time to let Jeremy breathe.

"You know what? You know what, Jeremy?"

Jeremy massaged his throat to soothe his desperately sore air pipes.

"I know what you are," he said hoarsely, hoping he wasn't getting himself in serious trouble.

"How do you know about all this?" Tyler asked, stepping away from Jeremy.

"My uncle, John, left this old diary lying around. It was written by a crazy Gilbert ancestor who wrote about this curse that ran in your family. Werewolves. It's crazy, right? But then Matt got attacked by a wolf under the light of a full moon, and your uncle had just gotten back to town. It was just – it was too weird. Is it true?"

"About my uncle?" Tyler asked, sitting down in the leather chair that had been his father's sitting place. "Yeah."

"But you, you're not?"

"A wolf? I'm sorry, werewolf? No. I mean, not yet. You know, hell, just saying that out loud I – I sound insane."

"No, I don't think so," Jeremy said. "But then again, I always did believe in the crazy stuff."

"According to my uncle, you have to trigger the curse. Somebody has to die at your hands, like murder, or an accident. I basically have to cause death and then, boom. Next full moon, I'm howling on all fours."

"Was that why he came back? To tell you all this?"

"He had to tell me. I caught him. He's not here for me." Jeremy watched Tyler dig into his pocket only to pull out a white rock. "He's here for this."

Jeremy wondered what the rock had to do with anything. It was just a stupid rock, wasn't it?  
\----------  
Back at the park, Damon and Rebecca had deemed Chelsea okay, but had decided to keep her away from sharp objects. They were now playing ball with her. Rebecca would roll it to her and Chelsea would toss it back – or, well, Damon would help her toss it back. Damon realized Chelsea's hands were too small to hold a ball in one hand so he helped her cup the ball with both hands and toss it in the air so it would reach Rebecca. It helped take Chelsea's mind off the pain of her recent cut, so he figured it was worth it.

When the game was over Rebecca, Chelsea, and Damon went to take a seat at a picnic table. Mason was nearby getting a glass of lemonade from a stand that two girls had put up.

"Hello, Mason," Damon said. "Workin' hard?"

"Doing my part."

"I heard you talked to Stefan."

"Hm. Nice guy."

"Yeah. A lot nicer than me," Damon admitted. "Well, nice is overrated."

"That's what I think."

Rebecca, who had Chelsea in her arms, hadn't said a thing. She wasn't so fond of Mason anymore. He'd flirted with her on purpose the night before to get between her and Damon.

"You have a good day, Damon," Mason said, before walking off in the opposite direction.

One of the girl's from the lemonade stand offered them some lemonade and Damon took some for himself and some for Rebecca and Chelsea.

Damon realized his mistake as soon as the drink touched his tongue. The lemonade burned and made him choke. He spit it out and dropped his cup.

"Damon? What's wrong?" Rebecca gasped out, grabbing him with one arm and holding Chelsea with her other.

"Vervain," Damon said hoarsely. "Vervain."

Vervain in the lemonade? Really? Mason must've done it. Liz wouldn't have had a reason to because she didn't know vampires could walk around during the day.

Rebecca led Damon to a nearby seat and softly sat him down. "I'm gonna get you some water. I'll be right back. If anyone asks, the drink was too sour."

Damon gave a nod and continued his labored breathing.

When Rebecca came back with the water, Damon took it, opened the bottle and took a huge amount into his mouth. He swished it around like it was mouth wash, got up from his spot and went to the edge of the picnic area to spit it out.

"Oh, I'm gonna kill him," Damon said. "No more Mr. Nice Guy."

"Damon, wait," Rebecca said. "We need to call Stefan and Caroline and –"

"I'm not listening to anymore of his 'give peace a chance' crap. Mason's dead."

"Okay," she said readily. "He wanted to expose us, I get it. I still think we should call them, at least warn them to stay away from the lemonade."

When she called Stefan, he agreed that Mason needed to be put down. Mason was making threats.

"All right. Let's do it," Damon said. He seemed shocked that Stefan was on board. "The woods. Trash duty. Come on."

"Um . . . Damon . . ." Rebecca said softly. "I can't go."

Damon watched Rebecca nod at Chelsea, the infant in her arms. Right.

"I'll find Stefan. You go find Blondie, let her know what's going on."

"Yeah, okay. Be careful."  
\----------  
When Damon found Stefan, they went in search of Mason; they found him pulling up some weeds in the woods. He seemed upset that they'd found him.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable."

Mason looked at Damon and then at Stefan, who had appeared behind the man-beast.

"Go ahead. Run. I'll give you a head start."

Suddenly Mason was falling to the ground and then a shot ran through the air. Damon felt pain in his chest as a bullet pierced him. Two more gun shots, this time it was Stefan who got hit. Damon was hit twice more and then Stefan once again.

Both brothers hit the ground, unconscious.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Rebecca was going crazy. She didn't know what was going on. She heard gun shots coming from the woods – coming from the same direction Damon and Stefan had gone. Something was wrong. Damon hadn't really been in trouble since he'd been locked in the basement of Grayson Gilbert's old doctor's office, but Rebecca remembered clearly how paralyzing it was when she felt Damon in trouble.

She'd always perceived it differently than he had. Rebecca usually felt when Damon was in trouble because it physically affected her. She could feel his pain. Like just now, she knew that Damon had been shot; she'd felt a phantom ache in her chest because of it. The pain had passed quickly, but it had still been there.

Even Caroline knew something was wrong. Liz had run off quickly and now there were gun shots? Rebecca, Elena, and Caroline, had moved away from the workers. Rebecca and Caroline needed to be able to hear better.

"You guys go on. I'll catch up with you after I give Chelsea back to my dad."

Caroline and Elena did what Rebecca had said, Caroline leading the way. She stopped when she smelled blood.

"They've been here," Caroline said. There was red liquid coating the ground and even some of the plants around them.

Caroline heard the crunch of leaves and looked up to see Mason.

"What're you two doin' out here?" he asked.

"Have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, Elena. I've seen him. Seen Damon, too."

"Well, where are they?"

"You don't need me for that." Mason crept closer. "I'll let your friend here sniff them out."

Mason looked at Caroline and she glared back.

"Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her."

Caroline growled, perceiving the threat. She wanted to wound the guy, but he grabbed Elena by the throat and wrapped an arm around her neck. It stopped Caroline in her tracks.

"Don't be stupid," Mason said. "Necks snap easy around here."

Caroline didn't know what to do. She hadn't had any proper training for things like this. What if she messed up and got Elena killed in the process?

"Let her go, Mason," Rebecca's voice came from behind Caroline, causing the blond to almost sag with relief. "It doesn't have to be this way."

Caroline felt rather than saw Rebecca step forward so that both blonds were lined up side by side. Caroline looked at the Slayer and Rebecca nodded her way. Caroline knew that meant her job was to get Elena away from Mason and Rebecca would deal with the werewolf.

"We can take you," Caroline said confidently. She'd watched Rebecca train a few times since she'd turned; she knew Rebecca could take care of this.

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah," Caroline said, flashing forward and pushing Mason away from the brunette. "I do."

Caroline shoved Mason into a tree so hard that it trembled from top to bottom. Rebecca took over then. She kept a hand at Mason's throat and brought a knee up to connect with his groin. She let him go and he fell to his knees. Her foot made a solid connection with his stomach. He flew through the air with the force of it and his back hit another tree. When he fell to the ground this time . . . he was unconscious.

"Come on," Caroline said to Elena after admiring Rebecca's handy work. "We've gotta find Stefan and Damon."  
\----------  
When Damon came to the first thing he felt was another gun shot, this time in his leg.

"This is how it's gonna work." He heard Liz's voice even through his grunting. "Answer me and you don't get shot, understand?"

Damon opened his eyes and looked around. He was in an old quarter for slaves. Stefan was with him, still unconscious. Liz was there, too, with a gun trained on him. She'd shot him.

"How many of you are there?" she asked.

"Liz, please," Damon rasped out only to get another bullet shot into his other leg. She'd aimed for the knee cap, too.

"How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?"

Damon didn't speak, so Liz fired another shot, this time at Stefan. Stefan couldn't feel it, of course, so Liz focused her attention back on Damon.

"I will drag this out painfully."

"But . . . but you're my friend."

"Our friendship was a lie," Liz said.

That was when Damon realized Liz was hurt; she felt betrayed. He'd kept his secret from her. He couldn't have told her, but it had obviously still struck a nerve.

"Answer me and I'll kill you fast."  
\----------  
Outside the slave quarters, Caroline, Rebecca, and Elena were trying to figure out what to do.

"He's not gonna tell us anything. Kill them both," Liz's voice drifted from the opening. Caroline placed a hand over her chest and shook her head.

"My mom. She's killing them."

"What?" Elena took a step forward. "We have to stop her."

"No, I can't," Caroline said. "Elena, she's gonna find out about me!"

Elena went down the stairs anyway. Rebecca followed her, smiling sympathetically at Caroline on the way. She didn't envy the position Caroline was in; she truly didn't.

At the end of the stairs there was a gate. It creaked when it was opened and Rebecca heard Liz tell someone to check it out. A deputy appeared out of nowhere so Rebecca punched him, effectively knocking the man out. They reached Liz, who, surprised, turned her gun on them.

"You can't kill them. I'm not gonna let you," the brunette said.

With a puff of wind the gate slammed shut behind them. Caroline had decided to get involved, Rebecca realized, and felt a rush of pride for her friend.

"Who else is with you?" Liz asked.

There were two deputies down there with them; the one Rebecca had punched was now waking up, the other was trying to follow the blur that was Caroline. The blond stopped behind the first deputy and savagely bit into his neck. The disoriented deputy shot at her, but Caroline used the other deputy as a body shield. Both deputies were dead.

Caroline backed herself into a corner until she brought herself under control. She then stepped out of the shadows and looked at Liz, who seemed to be paralyzed with shock.

"Hi, Mom."

Rebecca quickly removed Liz's gun from Liz's hands and shoved the sheriff into the wall, baring her own fangs. Liz didn't scream at the sight, but she did seem shocked – even more than she already had been.

Knowing that Liz was not going to try anything, Rebecca let herself focus on Damon and Stefan.

Elena went to Stefan's side, and Rebecca went to Damon's. Both girls had to help get the bullets out of the respective boyfriend.

"Damon, hey!" she said softly, running her fingers down his cheek to assess the damage. She told Caroline to block the entrance so nobody could get in and so Liz couldn't get out.

After a bunch of yelling Damon was bullet free and so was Stefan, who had woken up in the middle of Elena digging into him. Rebecca dragged both deputies over for Stefan and Damon to drink from. Damon had no qualms, but Stefan wouldn't do it. He remembered what had happened last time, apparently.

"I'll be fine. It's just gonna take a little bit longer."

After Damon was done drinking he stood up, still unsteady on his feet.

"This is a most unfortunate situation."

Rebecca noticed Damon limping and realized his legs had to still be bothering him from when he'd been shot.

"Two deputies dead, and you." Damon looked at Liz, who had sat down and not spoken a word since. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asked. Liz looked at her but turned her head quickly. "Mom? Please? Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me, but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right? Mom, please, he will kill you."

Damon nodded minutely and Liz looked at him. "Then kill me. I can't take this. Kill me, now."

Rebecca hoped it was just the shock talking, but it seemed like Liz didn't want to live because Caroline was a vampire. The sheriff had worked so hard to protect her daughter from this and she had failed.

Damon crept closer to Liz and said darkly, "But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." Then he jerked her up roughly.

"Damon, don't," Stefan said firmly.

"Relax, no one's killing anybody." Then to Liz, "You're my friend."

Rebecca assumed that meant Damon knew that Liz was probably hurt, too, from finding out about Damon being a vampire. She'd trusted Damon above everyone on the council. To find out about him, about what he was, it had to sting.

"We gotta clean this up," Damon said.

Rebecca and Caroline were the only vampires that hadn't been shot so Rebecca volunteered them for it. Caroline had to learn somehow. But Damon said no.

"These are deputies. They'll be missed. We have to leave them somewhere they'll be found. Once Liz is vervain-free and compelled, she'll chalk it up to an animal attack as a cover story. We can't just bury these guys."

Rebecca nodded, seeing the reasoning behind Damon's words.

"Okay. I'll help you," Rebecca said. She needed to learn these things too. "Care, you go with Stefan and take your mom with you."

Once everyone had gone and only Damon and Rebecca were left, Rebecca told Damon to drink from her so he could heal completely. It was weird, but even though she was a vampire now, her blood was still just as powerful. It probably didn't taste super fresh, but it was stronger than a human's. Plus she loved the feeling she got when he drank from her. It was much more pleasurable now that she was a vampire.  
\----------  
Back at the Lockwood mansion, Jeremy and Tyler were still in the office. Now Jeremy was looking at a white stone, the one Tyler had shown him earlier.

"What is it?" Jeremy asked, turning it around in his hands.

"It's a moonstone," Tyler said. "I looked it up online. It's a natural rock, but they're supposed to have all sorts of supernatural legends attached to them."

"Why didn't you give it to him?" Jeremy asked, referring to Tyler's uncle.

"Because he wants it," Tyler admitted. "Because I'm a jerk like that. It's important to him for some reason, but I don't trust the guy, so I'm not just gonna hand it to him."

Jeremy didn't blame him. Not one bit.

"Found you!" Jeremy heard Sarah say as she came into the office.

"Hey, you guys are missing all the drinking." That was Aimee.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you two having a moment?" Sarah asked.

"No, we're good," Tyler said.

"Hey, what is that?" Aimee asked, taking the moonstone from Jeremy's hand.

"Pretty," Sarah said.

"Okay, let's not play with the rock," Tyler said, standing up.

"Well, come and get it."

"Look, I'll play along for a little bit, but seriously, give it back."

Tyler had been going toward Aimee, but then he realized Sarah had the moonstone when she moved to leave the office.

"You're lucky you're cute when you're drunk," Tyler said, following her out of the room and up the stairs. Aimee and Jeremy followed Tyler out, mostly because they wanted to see what was going to happen.

"I want Jeremy to come and get it," Sarah said, smiling at the brown haired boy.

"Give me a break."

"Sarah, don't be a bad drunk."

"Jeremy, come upstairs with me. See how bad a drunk I can be."

"I'm good, thanks," Jeremy said.

Tyler made it up the stairs and grabbed for the moonstone. Sarah began laughing.

"This isn't funny," Tyler said.

Jeremy wasn't sure what happened next. He didn't know whether Tyler had pushed her or if Sarah had fallen on her own, but Sarah did fall down the stairs.

"Sarah!" Jeremy said.

"She fell!" Tyler said, rushing down the stairs.

"She's not moving," Aimee said.

All three of the others surrounded Sarah, and Jeremy started freaking out. What if Sarah was dead? Would Tyler turn even if it wasn't really his fault?

Then Sarah was smiling. "Fooled you!"

Jeremy fell on his butt, relieved.

"You pushed me down the stairs," Sarah whined.

"Look, he – he didn't meant it, okay," Jeremy said, getting back onto his feet. He helped Sarah get to her feet and let Aimee lead her away.

Jeremy looked at Tyler, who was leaning against the railing of the stairs looking more scared than anything else. He wondered if the thought of him turning had passed through Tyler's mind too.  
\----------  
When Damon got back to the boardinghouse Caroline was just arriving. Elena let the blond in and Caroline said, "Hey. Sorry that took forever. I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here."

"It'll take about three days to get the vervain out of her system. Maybe even sooner," Damon said.

Damon left the two teens and went down to the cellar, where Liz was being held. He handed the sheriff her cell phone back and told her to call in sick so nobody would miss her at work.

"Thank you," Damon said when Liz handed the device to him. Liz went around him and stopped at her cot. "It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure. Brought you a good thread count. And once the vervain has worked its way out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything, and you will be a free woman again."

Damon tucked the cell phone into his back pocket, and then heard three pairs of footsteps in the hallway. Blondie, Elena, and Stefan.

"Keep Caroline away from me, please," Liz said. "I don't wanna see her."

"She's your daughter, Liz."

"Not anymore. My daughter's gone."

Damon knew Caroline was right outside. He also knew how much it hurt to be rejected by a parent. He wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that," he said.

He looked at Blondie with real sympathy. He kind of owed it to her. She'd saved his life earlier and hadn't had a reason to. She was okay in his book.

Caroline put a suitcase by the door and took off back upstairs.

"Your daughter," Damon emphasized the word, "brought you some clothes."

Damon heard Elena and Stefan follow Caroline, and then he walked out the door and locked it behind him. Damon knew Caroline would be in serious need of some comforting, which he wasn't really good at, so he got out his phone and texted Rebecca.

Hey, Blondie needs you. Come home soon – D, was what he sent.

"Katherine took a little bit of vervain every day and built up a tolerance to it," he heard Stefan say. "I could do the same with human blood. I could learn to control myself on it."

"But you can't." That was Elena. "Stefan, you don't have to."

"I almost died tonight, Elena. Because I was too weak."

"But the last time that you drank human blood –"

"Look, I told you I would find a way to stop Katherine, didn't I? Well, this is it. This is the only way, because she's stronger than me. And unless that changes, I can't protect you."

"Can we talk about this later?"

"He can hear us wherever we are because he drinks this."

Damon assumed they were near the freezer where the blood was kept.

"This is – this is the only thing that can help me."

"Are you serious? Or are you pretending to fight? Because I can't tell if –"

"No, this is real. No more pretend."

Damon heard Elena stomp away and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Learning to control his blood lust was the best thing for Stefan, why couldn't Elena see that?  
\----------  
After Rebecca had gotten Damon's text she'd picked up her sister and had rushed back home. She found Caroline on the couch in the parlor, crying. Elena had just asked Caroline if she could take her home.

"I can't go home."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?" Elena asked.

Chelsea was fidgeting in Rebecca's arms and was saying "dow" over and over again. Rebecca knew her sister was trying to say 'down' so she let her sister go, safely depositing her onto the floor.

"Katherine's gonna be there, and she's gonna want me to tell her everything that happened today. She told me I had to spy on you and report back to her."

Elena looked away from the blond and said. "I know. And I have been so mad at you. But then I tried to put myself in your position, so that I could understand why you would do this to me, and to Stefan, because he's been such a friend to you."

Caroline's face shattered. She began sobbing, which made Chelsea start crying so that Rebecca had to pick her back up again.

"Who did she threaten?" Elena asked Caroline.

"Matt," the blonde whimpered. "She threatened Matt. And I am so scared of her, Elena, I am so scared of her."

"And you should be, Caroline, we all should be."

"Why is she doing this?" Caroline asked. "What does she want?"

"That's the million dollar question."

Caroline, still sobbing, leaned into Elena when the brunette opened her arms. As for Rebecca, she didn't know what was wrong with her sister, but she didn't want to stop crying.

"Hey, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Care!" the girl said – well, screamed, really.

"She's okay," Rebecca said. "Everything's okay."

Caroline lifted up her head and then reached her arms up for Chelsea. "Give her to me."

Rebecca listened to Caroline and then said, "I'm gonna go talk to Damon to see if we can put you up for the night."  
\----------  
At the Lockwood mansion, Tyler found his uncle in the study. Mason had just gotten off of his cell phone and was now looking at him.

"Hey," Mason said.

"Hi." Tyler had come to his uncle for a reason. "I almost killed a girl today."

"What?"

"It was an accident. I was being stupid. She's okay, though." Tyler saw the relief on his uncle's face. "But there I was, you know, just for a moment, for a split second, I hoped she'd die. Look, whatever this is inside me, I don't want any part of it. I don't ever want to feel that way again. I won't. I can't."

"I know," Mason said, stepping forward.

Tyler was still suspicious of Mason, but he'd been telling the truth. He didn't want anything to do with this werewolf business. He took the moonstone from his pocket and handed it to his uncle.

"Thank you," Mason said, looking at the rock in his hand as if it were a piece of gold.

Tyler walked away, hoping he'd done the right thing.  
\----------  
"So I guess you heard about Caroline working for Katherine," Rebecca said when she walked into their room upstairs. Damon was changing his shirt; his other one had had blood on and bullet holes in it.

"I heard," he said. "You don't seem surprised."

"I'm not. I knew already and she asked me not to tell you because she thought you might try to kill her again."

"Ah. How'd you find out?"

"She was acting weird so I confronted her. I told her I'd help her. So, can she stay here tonight? Katherine's probably waiting at her house so . . ."

"She can stay." Then, "Why was Chelsea crying?"

Rebecca hesitated. "I don't know. She started crying when Caroline started crying, so . . . I think she knew something was wrong even though she's just a baby. She wouldn't stop crying until she was in Care's arms.

"Hm."

Damon knew Chelsea had something that made her different than other girls her age. It was almost like the girl was empathic – maybe she was.

"Do you think you could get Bonnie to do a spell on Chelsea? I –" Damon started.

"Do what? Bonnie's not doing some spell on my sister. She could turn Chelsea into a toad or something."

"A toad?" Damon scoffed. "Hear me out, please? Something could be happening to Chelsea. We need to know what it is."

Damon watched Rebecca bite her lip and nod hesitantly

"I don't know if she'll listen to me. I did bite her."

"Yeah, but that was two weeks ago," Damon said.

Rebecca blinked, amused. The bad thing was that in Damon's warped brain Bonnie should just be thankful that she wasn't dead. Bonnie had threatened him and Rebecca had acted naturally; she'd let instinct take over.

"Right. Well, I'm gonna go tell Caroline to pick a room. I'll be back."

"Uh, I'll come with you."

Once downstairs, Rebecca and Damon saw Elena tucking Caroline underneath a blanket on the couch. Chelsea was not asleep; she was walking around, going from the couch Care was on to the table and back; the young girl was fine now.

Elena looked at Damon and said, "Caroline's sleeping on the couch," as if it weren't obvious.

"I heard. And you?"

"I'm going home," Elena said.

"Ho!" Chelsea repeated. All three adults looked at her and Rebecca covered her mouth to keep from laughing; Damon was grinning.

Elena went to the door and reached for it before turning back around. "What you did for Caroline's mom . . . that's the Damon who was my friend."

Damon nodded and a small smile graced his lips. He figured now would be a good time to tell Elena what he knew.

"Hey. Stefan didn't drink the people blood, if you were curious. But he needs to. And deep down, you know that."

Rebecca looked between Damon and Elena. What had she missed?

Damon took Rebecca by the hand and then grabbed Chelsea. Damon decided just to leave Blondie on the couch since she was already asleep. He took his girls upstairs, taking both to their respective room. Chelsea didn't mind sleeping alone as long as he left a light on and the door ajar.

Once in their room, Damon explained what had happened between Stefan and Elena before Rebecca had come back.

"I don't like it," Rebecca said. "Last time he was on human blood, he killed me."

She had a very valid point, Damon knew.

"I remember," Damon said.

"Do you think he'll be able to control it?"

"I think he can learn," Damon admitted. "If he'll try."

"And it'll be from blood bags?" she asked. "At least until . . ."

Damon nodded. "He'll learn to control the amount. He'll start with a little bit everyday and work his way up."

"Well, if he does it, we'll have to watch him. It can't end up like last time, agreed?"

"Agreed," Damon said. "It won't be like last time."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Damon woke up to someone's very skillful mouth kissing down his chest and he grinned. Rebecca really was quite good at this. His blood was already flowing south.

He gently grabbed her hair to pull her head back up his body. Not that he wanted her to stop, he just wanted a kiss first.

"Mm . . . good morning," she said, smiling.

"Apparently." Damon grazed his teeth over her bottom lip and bit hard enough to draw a little blood. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Rebecca's grin faltered. Uh-oh.

"Um . . . I'm decorating at the Lockwood charity thing. I knew you wouldn't like it, so I figured I'd make it up to you beforehand."

The Lockwood charity thing was actually the town coming together to organize an annual masquerade party. Speaking of . . . Rebecca needed to shop for that if she was planning on going.

"Stefan and I are going to be there, too."

"Well, you can't go. Mason tried to kill you, on purpose."

"I know," Damon said, his eyes flashing electric blue. "Which is why I'm going to their house today. I'm gonna keep an eye on him."

"And on me?" she asked coyly, again making a trip down his chest.

"Definitely," Damon answered, closing his eyes and focusing on the attention she was giving him.  
\----------  
When Damon and Rebecca were done pleasuring each other, Rebecca took a shower and then Damon took one. They wouldn't have gotten clean if they had taken one together. Rebecca made it downstairs before Damon and found Caroline in the kitchen. She had ear buds in and was moving around the kitchen dancing and cooking – well, trying to cook. She seemed distracted.

"Care," Rebecca said loud enough to be heard over the music.

The blond looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Hey. Sorry, I was trying to drown things out."

When Caroline gave her a pointed look, Rebecca blushed. Caroline had been able to hear what she and Damon had been doing. That was embarrassing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were still here."

"I'm . . . I'm going to ask if I can stay here. At least until my mom gets over the vervain and Damon can compel her."

"Of course you can stay," Rebecca said. "I mean, it's not like the house isn't big enough."

Caroline smiled. "Good. That way I don't have to deal with Katherine, either."

"Oh. Well, do you mind watching Chelsea today? I don't want to take her with us to the mansion because Mason is going to be there."

"Sure. I love Chelsea."

"Well, good. Just be careful, because we think something's going on with Chelsea. Something supernatural. I'm gonna ask Bonnie to see if she'll check it out. For Chelsea's benefit."

There was a knock at the door, and if the heartbeat was anything to go by, it was Jeremy. When Rebecca reached the front door, Damon was already there opening it.

It was Jeremy; Rebecca's vampire senses were getting better.

"I need to talk to you."

"And when I need to talk to you . . ." Damon began, and tried to shut the door.

"Damon . . ." Rebecca said. "Let him in."

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his werewolf curse. He's not a werewolf yet."

"Wow. Fascinating," Damon said. "Not enough."

"Damon!" Rebecca said again, frustrated. "Let him in!"

"But Mason Lockwood is, and he's looking for a moonstone. That's a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here!"

Why would a werewolf want a rock; what did it have do with anything?

"A moonstone?" Damon asked, finally letting Jeremy in. Rebecca glared at him for a second because her friends shouldn't need a reason to come in the house.

"And I know where it is," Jeremy said.

"And you're bringing me this, why?"

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just wanna help, okay?"

"What'd your sister say about this little discovery?" Damon wondered out loud, and when Jeremy didn't answer Damon continued, "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

"Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this."

"And you're a Gilbert; you just can't help yourself."

Rebecca looked at Jeremy and then at Damon. "I guess we're not going to the Lockwood mansion?"

Damon smirked. "Of course we are; we're just going to be fashionably late."  
\----------  
Stefan had gone to the Lockwood mansion to help decorate for the charity ball. He was helping to clear out the room the dance would be held in when Jenna, Elena's aunt walked up to him.

"Stefan, hey."

"Hey."

"I'm cookin' dinner tonight. Ric'll be there. You should come."

"Oh, um . . . You know, Elena and I, we're, um . . . kind of takin' a break."

"Really? 'Cause that's not what it sounded like this morning. I'm a light sleeper."

Stefan's eyebrows shot up. He had gone to Elena's the night before because she had let him drink from her. If he was going to learn to control his lust for human blood, Elena had wanted him to learn by drinking from her.

Jenna smiled. "You know what? I heard nothing."

Stefan relaxed when she walked away.  
\----------  
Outside, Elena was helping set up decorations with Bonnie. The brunette was surprised Bonnie had even shown up. Though the witch looked nervous.

"Caroline's not coming. I told you."

"Just making sure." Bonnie sighed. "What about Rebecca and Damon?"

"They should've been here by now," Elena said. "You know, eventually you're gonna have to talk to them. Rebecca and Caroline."

"Could you make it a little less obvious you're on their side?"

"There are no sides, Bonnie."

"Come on. Since Caroline became a vampire, we barely see each other. Losing Caroline was bad enough. I didn't think I'd lose you, too."

Elena put down the candles she was supposed to be decorating the lawn with and asked Bonnie to come with her.

"Where?"

"Not here. Some place quiet. We have to talk."

She offered the witch her hand and Bonnie took it. Elena began explaining everything that had happened since Caroline had become a vampire. Bonnie hadn't made herself present since the carnival, so she didn't know anything about anything. The trip to Duke, she'd known about, but not the results, not about the sun and the moon curse. And she didn't know about Elena and Stefan pretending to fight. She didn't know about Liz being locked up.

"I can't believe this."

"It's a lot, I know," Elena said. "Katherine's been doing everything that she can to drive me and Stefan apart, and Caroline just got trapped in the middle."

The two came to a white bench and sat down before Bonnie spoke. "It's not that you and Stefan are pretending to fight. It's that I didn't even know that you guys were fighting at all."

"I'm sorry. I don't wanna keep things from you, but you've made it pretty clear where you stand with the whole vampire thing."

"So that makes me the odd man out?"

"No. No, Bonnie, of course not."

Bonnie nodded. "I know where I stand, Elena, and . . . I know where you stand. But where do we stand?"

"You're my best friend, Bonnie," Elena said, knowing it to be true. "I didn't mean to let this craziness with Caroline get in the way of that. But she needs you too."

"Not yet. I just . . . she's a vampire. I can't."

"Why not?" Elena pushed.

"Because she killed someone! And . . . last time I let a vampire in, I was attacked."

"Rebecca," Elena said. "She . . . didn't mean to scare you. She's just . . . she's very protective of Damon."

"Are you defending her?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"No, Bonnie. I just . . . She and Damon share a . . . Well, you know. You felt how they feel. Just imagine how you would feel if someone was threatening to take that from you."

Bonnie looked guiltily over her shoulder and then said, "We should head back."  
\----------  
Back at the boardinghouse, Ric had just arrived with a box of information about werewolves. He stepped in the entrance of the parlor when he saw Jeremy.

"What're you doin' here?"

"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone."

Ric looked at Damon, who shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Does Elena know he's here?"

Damon shook his head, while Jeremy answered, "Not exactly."

"Whatcha got?" Damon asked, gesturing to the box.

"This is Isobel's research from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me."

"Mm, Vanessa, the hottie."

"Hey!" Rebecca said. "Right here."

Damon grinned and Ric sighed. "Yeah, Vanessa. Yes." He looked at Rebecca. "If it makes you feel any better, she shot him with a crossbow."

"Yeah, but she was aiming for Elena," Damon said. "Thought she was Katherine."

"Now, do you remember the old Aztec Curse she told us about?"

"Sun and the moon, blah, blah, blah?"

"What curse?" Rebecca asked. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"I came home, you were hurt, and it didn't seem important." Damon looked at Ric. "You're the teacher, Ric. So teach."

"Supposedly, vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a Shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun."

Damon wiggled his fingers to show off his day ring. "Most of them, anyway."

"According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with a moonstone."

"What do you mean, sealed?" Jeremy asked.

"It's a witch thing," Damon said. "Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse."

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse," Ric said.

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots," Damon said.

"Where do you think our legend comes from?" Rebecca asked. "We'd be stupid to ignore it."

"Who has the stone now?" Damon asked Jeremy.

"Tyler."

"Can you get it?"

"Yeah."

"Now your life has purpose."

"So you do believe it?" Jeremy asked Rebecca.

"I was almost bitten by Mason. Just being scratched by him took forever to heal. So, yes. This is the same story that says a bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire. It would be stupid not to check it out."

Damon took a swig of his bourbon before saying, "Let's go."  
\----------  
At the Lockwood mansion Stefan was putting glasses in order for the outside bar the party called for. Mason walked by and Stefan grinned at him.

"Hey, Stefan."

"Hey, Mason."

"Wasn't expecting you here," the wolf-in-man-form said. "Or anywhere."

Stefan could tell Mason was nervous. "Yeah, I had this little accident. But, uh, I'm fine now."

Mason stepped closer. "What'd you do to Sheriff Forbes?"

"Oh, she's fine too," Stefan assured him. "But from now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work."

"Not a problem."

As Mason walked away, he ran into Bonnie. She was startled and he apologized. Stefan watched as Bonnie stared off into space in the direction Mason was going.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asked. "You okay?"

"When I touched him, I saw something."

"What d'you mean? Like a vision?"

"I saw Elena."

"You saw Elena?"

Was Mason after Elena? Was he here to hurt her?

"He was kissing her," Bonnie said.

"No, Bonnie, Elena wouldn't kiss . . . You didn't see Elena. You saw Katherine."  
\----------  
Elena was across the way, watching Bonnie and Stefan talk; something had happened, she could feel it.

She heard something shift beside her and when she looked she saw Damon.

"Damon, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, could you tell yours to stop following me around?"

"What's going on?"

"Ask eager beaver." Damon grimaced. "Rebecca doesn't mind his company, but he's going to end up in the way."

When Rebecca and Jeremy appeared, Damon walked away. Elena was surprised when Rebecca stayed with Jeremy instead of following Damon.

"Jeremy, what is he making you do?"

"He's not makin' me do anything. Damon and I –"

"Uh, no. No way. No, no, no. There's no Damon and you. There's Damon and whoever Damon's using. And those people? They end up dead. Whatever's going on . . . Jeremy, I want you to stay out of it."

"Well, I don't really care what you want, Elena. It's because of you that I'm in this mess in the first place, so, I'm sorry, but you don't really get to tell me what I'm gonna do."

Jeremy began walking away and Elena scoffed. Rebecca was trying to hide a grin. That irritated Elena for some reason. Didn't Rebecca know that Jeremy was going to get hurt? Damon didn't care about Jeremy; he wouldn't intervene if something threatened him.

"Jeremy's gonna be fine," Rebecca said. "I'll watch out for him."  
\----------  
Once Rebecca had assured Elena of Jeremy's safety, she went to find Damon; Jeremy couldn't get in but so much trouble with everyone around.

The first thing she heard when she found Damon was, "Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?"

"We missed it. He got into town right after she did. It makes perfect sense," that was Stefan.

"I know, but Mason Lockwood?" Damon seemed insulted. "Werewolf thing aside, the guy's a surfer. She's gotta be using him. She has to be."

"Using him for what?" Stefan asked.

"Um . . . what'd I miss?" Rebecca asked.

"Bonnie had a vision," Stefan explained.

"Hm . . . well, Mason's looking for a moonstone . . . that allegedly can break the full-moon werewolf curse."

"Maybe Katherine wants it as well," Damon said.

"Why?"

"Well . . ." Damon looked like he had the answer but then said, "No idea. That's the beauty of Katherine. She's always up to something."

"So how're we gonna find this moonstone?" Stefan asked.

"Jeremy's getting it from Tyler," Rebecca said casually.

"Why would you involve Jeremy?"

"He's playing Indiana Jones, he involved himself."

Stefan rolled his eyes and walked away from them. Apparently he didn't agree with Jeremy coming along for the ride.

"Okay . . . I'm gonna buy him some Midol," Rebecca said. "Or at least some pep-me-up pills." Then she looked at Damon. "Come on. Jer's with Tyler right now."

When Rebecca and Damon got to the tent that was going to be used as the entrance to the masquerade ball, they saw Stefan already there, listening in to Jeremy's and Tyler's conversation.

"Hey, uh . . . I did a little research on that stone you showed me."

"What? Why?" Tyler asked.

"I dunno. Curiosity. Uh, boredom."

"What'd it say?"

"Well, it turns out that it's part of this Aztec legend, but I wanna make sure it's the same kind of stone. You think I could, uh, check it out again?"

"Nope. Gave it to my uncle."

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I'm done with legends and curses. I don't want anything to do with it, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure. It's probably just stupid folklore anyways. Forget it."

"What now?" Rebecca asked.

"Text Bonnie," Damon said. "Tell her to meet us out front."  
\----------  
"What do you want?" Bonnie asked as she arrived at the front of the Lockwood mansion. Stefan, Damon, and Rebecca were there.

"A favor," Damon said.

"Like that's gonna happen."

"So predictable. That's why I brought him," Damon said, looking at Stefan.

"I know how you feel about helping us out, but since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine we finally have an opportunity to get the upper hand on both of them. So just hear us out."

"Pretty please," Damon added.

"I'm listening," Bonnie said. If there was any way to get rid of Katherine, Bonnie was all for it.

Stefan's phone rang and he took it out of his pocket. "I have to fill Elena in on what's goin' on." Then to Damon, "Can you play nice, please?"

"Yes," Damon said, looking at Bonnie. "All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood again, see if he gave Katherine the moonstone."

Stefan walked away as Bonnie answered, "My visions don't work like that. I don't get to ask questions."

"How inconvenient. Although, let's talk about that witchy little juju thing you do with me. You know, the fun one where my brain bursts into flames. What is that?"

"That's me giving you an aneurism," Bonnie said. "Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal quickly, so I do it over and over again."

"Is it vampire-specific?"

"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability."

"Good. Good, good."

"Damon, I'm not gonna help you hurt him," Bonnie said quickly.

"Mason Lockwood is a werewolf. Katherine's evil. They're the bad guys. Really? You're gonna play morality police with me right now?" Damon sighed. "Let me put it to you another way. They're a threat to Elena. So, you, witch, are gonna get over yourself and help us."

"Yeah, he meant that as a question with a please on the end," Stefan said, coming back.

"Absolutely," Damon agreed.

Bonnie eventually said yes and they came up with a way to get Mason on his own.  
\----------  
There was truck that was being used for moving furniture. Bonnie, being human, was physically weaker than any of the vampires or werewolves. Mason was the type who would help a girl who needed it, so the next time Mason passed by Bonnie pretended to be having trouble lifting a table out of the moving truck

"Hey, how'd you get stuck doin; that by yourself?"

"All the guys bailed. Something about draft picks? I don't know. I don't speak that language."

"Well, here, let me give you a hand."

Bonnie let him grab the table before she started the spell. Mason groaned and grabbed his head. When he finally went down to his knees, Damon stepped up and kneed him in the face, knocking Mason unconscious.

Damon went to Mason's Bronco and then opened the door for Bonnie and Rebecca.

Bonnie did not want to ride in the car with two vampires and a werewolf, but she didn't have a choice. Damon ended up in the driver's seat and then Bonnie let Rebecca get in first. Bonnie sat in the backseat.

The ride from the Lockwood's to the boardinghouse was tense. Rebecca understood Bonnie's hesitation. Rebecca had attacked Bonnie- with good reason, Rebecca thought – and Bonnie couldn't forgive her yet. Rebecca didn't need Bonnie's forgiveness. The way Bonnie was acting lately, Rebecca would probably attack her again.

Rebecca almost jumped when she felt Damon touch her leg. She hadn't been paying attention. She grabbed his hand and looked his way. His eyes showed concerned. He wouldn't voice his concern with other people in the car, but she knew he was concerned nonetheless.

"I'm okay," she whispered low enough for only Damon to hear.

What had Rebecca so upset was that she had to ask a favor of Bonnie even after Rebecca had attacked her. Rebecca had never liked asking people for help, anyway, but especially not someone she had wronged.

"Hey, Bonnie?" Rebecca said hesitantly. "Can I ask you for another favor?"

"Depends on what the favor is," the witch said.

"Will you check Chelsea out? I think something is . . . different about her. I think . . . she can sense things that she shouldn't be able to. She's perceptive for a fourteen month old."

Bonnie didn't say anything about Rebecca's request, but Rebecca knew Bonnie loved Chelsea. If there was any way possible to help Chelsea out then Bonnie would do it.  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, Damon asked for someone to grab Mason's bag from the back of the car. Rebecca was going to grab it, but Bonnie reached for it instead.

Damon grabbed Mason and flung him over his shoulder so he could take him in the house. Damon set Mason up in the living room in front of the fireplace, then went about putting a tarp around the chair.

"Here's his bag, as requested," Bonnie said, placing the bag on the floor by the bookcase.

Rebecca helped Damon place the tarp around all corners of the chair.

"W – why are you doing that?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Because I don't wanna stain the carpet," Damon said honestly.

"I knew you were gonna say something like that."

"You're judging again," Damon said. "And are you goin' to help with Chelsea or not?"

"Of course I'm going to help her," Bonnie snapped. "She's only a baby and nothing is her fault if she is different." Bonnie looked at Mason. "He's not gonna be out much longer."

Damon began going through the bag Bonnie had brought in and found thick links of chain. "Whoa, looks like this guy is used to being tied up."

"He tied himself up on full moons so he wouldn't hurt anybody," Rebecca said softly. "He only attacked me by accident."

Damon looked at her and Rebecca could tell he was wondering is she was going to have a problem with what was about to happen.

"I'm on your side, Damon," she reassured him. "He tried to get you killed; do what you have to do."

Bonnie stood in front of Mason Lockwood now and placed her hands on his head.

"What're you doing?" Damon asked curiously.

"You're looking for a moonstone. I'm trying to help you find it," Bonnie said.

"Oh, good, yeah. Find out if he gave it to Katherine and find out where she is, and find out what they're gonna do with it once they get it.

"It's somewhere small," Bonnie said. "Dark. There's water."

"Like a sewer?" Damon asked.

"No. Like a . . . well?" Bonnie didn't sound sure. "That can't be right. Yeah, it's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?"

Rebecca didn't know the answer to that herself, but she was glad Katherine didn't have it.

"I told you, I only get what I get," Bonnie said.

Suddenly Mason grabbed Bonnie's hands and both Damon and Rebecca had to pry his fingers off of her.

"That's it! That's all I got!" Bonnie said, panicked. She moved away from Mason and toward the door.

"Hey, Judge-y," Damon called and she turned back around. "Thank you."

Bonnie nodded once and left the room.

Rebecca looked at Damon and said, "I'll be right back," before following Bonnie.

Bonnie had made it to the door – the front door – before Rebecca had caught up with her. Out of respect for Bonnie's humanity, Rebecca hadn't used vampire speed.

"Bonnie, wait," Rebecca said, and was surprised when Caroline appeared, too. Caroline was holding Chelsea and the young girl smiled when she saw Rebecca.

"Hi," Bonnie told Caroline. "How's your mom? Elena filled me in on everything."

"Um . . . I'm waiting for the vervain to pass out of her system and then I'll take her home."

Bonnie seemed to be trying, at least.

"Caroline . . ." the witch said hesitantly. "Never mind. I gotta go."

"Did you, uh, find the moonstone thing?" Caroline asked, desperately wanting Bonnie to open up to her.

"Not yet, but do you remember that old well where we used to play when we were kids? It's in the woods. Do you remember where?"

"On the edge of the old Lockwood property," Caroline answered. "Why?"

"I think that's where Mason is keeping the moonstone. I gotta go. I'll call and tell Stefan so he can meet us there."

"Well, I can come with you," Caroline offered.

"No, it's okay," Bonnie said. "You're on Chelsea duty."

"I'm here now," Rebecca said. "I've got her."

Bonnie looked at Rebecca and bit her lip. "Fine." Then to Caroline. "Sure."

Caroline smiled before handing Chelsea to Rebecca. "Thanks."

"No problem, Care."  
\----------  
Damon was still in the living room, only now he was heating up a fire poker. It was brutal, but he needed to know Mason's pain tolerance level.

Mason had been chained to the chair Damon had placed him on and was now trying to get out of his bonds. He had even made himself fall backwards.

Damon stabbed Mason in the shoulder with the poker and left it in there for about ten seconds. Mason screamed until Damon pulled the fire poker out. As Mason had yelled, Damon heard Chelsea begin to cry. He assumed she'd heard Mason and it had frightened her.

"Becca, you got her?" Damon asked, knowing Rebecca could hear him.

"Yup. Got her."

"Good." To Mason, Damon said, "You can feel pain. Good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast master with no affinity for pain."

Damon moved Mason's shirt so he could see the wound he'd left behind. The stab wound had already scabbed over.

"But you heal quickly. Not good. Guess I'll just have to keep applying pain."

Damon lifted Mason and the chair so Mason would be upright again, then went back to the fireplace so he could get the poker nice and hot again.

"So . . . Katherine . . . How do you know her? What's she up to?"

Mason didn't answer, so Damon shook his head.

"I have all day," he said before calmly sliding the poker into Mason's side.

This time Mason didn't scream. He grit his teeth together and groaned; Chelsea still started crying. Maybe Chelsea was just having a bad day.  
\----------  
Stefan had arrived at the well Bonnie had told him about, and Elena had shown up just after.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her gently.

"I know, but I am. What's going on?"

"Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here."

Stefan tore the cover off the well and climbed over the side. He looked at Elena, briefly, and gave her a quick, reassuring smile.

"I'll only be down there for a minute"

"Okay."

Stefan jumped and landed with ease even though he'd fallen about thirty feet. The problems didn't start until he hit the water; there was vervain in this well.

"Elena!" he shouted as he began to feel the burn. It felt like he was covered in acid and it was eating away at his skin. "Elena!"

"Stefan, what's happening?"

He began clawing at the walls of the well, trying to get a food-hold so he could get himself out, but he couldn't find anything.

"Vervain," he muttered, hoping Elena would hear him. If she didn't, he would be stuck down there to waste away.

"Stefan!"

Elena didn't know what to do. Yes, there was a chain so she could lower herself down, but she would have no way of getting herself back up.

"Elena!" That was not Stefan's voice; it was Caroline's.

"Stefan's down there and the chain is here, but I –"

Caroline began to climb over the side of the well, but Elena grabbed her arm. "No, you can't. It's filled with vervain."

Caroline looked down into the well. She knew how painful vervain was. "Oh, no!"

"Caroline, we have to get him out. Now!"

Caroline helped Elena make a harness out of the chain that was with the well. Bonnie showed up a few seconds later wondering why Caroline had taken off.

"I heard Elena screaming," Caroline explained. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Elena said.

The way down was mostly smooth sailings except for one incident when the chain slipped. When Elena hit the water, she found an unconscious Stefan floating there. His skin had bubbled from the vervain and she knew he needed to get out of the water now.

Elena unwrapped the harness from herself and made one for Stefan.

"Pull him up!" she exclaimed and watched as he began to ascend. Caroline's strength was coming in handy.

While Stefan was being pulled up Elena began searching for the stone. She found a wooden box that she hoped had the stone in it.

"I got something! Bring me up!"

When Elena got to the top, she realized Stefan was still unconscious. He would need blood to heal; she would allow him to use hers.  
\----------  
"When did you two meet?" Damon asked Mason. He was referring to Katherine, of course. "She seduce you and tell you she loved you? You're supernatural, so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms."

"Meaning she acted like a slut," Rebecca said, coming into the room with Chelsea in her arms. Rebecca had her hand over Chelsea's eyes. Jeremy Gilbert was behind her, carrying a box of Ric's stuff.

"I thought you were at the Lockwoods," Damon said.

"I was. I came back," Jeremy said. "I found something in Ric's box of stuff."

"Ooh. What is it?"

"Um . . . I did a search on my phone. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and wolfsbane."

"What else did you read?"

Jeremy handed Damon a leather pouch that, when Damon opened it, had yellow-brown plants in it.

"Well, every source says something different. One source says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says it protects people, and another says it's toxic."

Mason groaned, sounding defeated.

"I'm guessing toxic."

Damon took a sprout and went toward Mason. "What's Katherine doing in Mystic Falls?"

When Mason didn't answer, Damon looked at Rebecca and gestured for her to take Chelsea back out. The baby didn't need to hear or see this and Damon didn't want her to. Once the two were out of the room, Damon touched Mason with the plant and watched as it burned Mason's skin.

"Why's she here?"

In the middle of Damon's question, he heard Chelsea cry again. Why was she crying? Again?

"She's here with me," Mason said, so Damon took the plant away from wolf-boy's skin. It healed slowly. Hm. Wolfsbane affected werewolves the way vervain affected vampires.

"How rude of me," Damon said. "You know, I just realized I didn't offer you anything to eat."

Damon shoved the sprout he was holding against Mason's lips and made sure it actually made it into the man's mouth.

Over the moans of pain that Mason was producing, he heard another sound, a retching sound. It was weak and infantile.

Chelsea was getting sick.  
\----------  
Rebecca had been listening to everything Damon had been doing. She didn't like it, but she understood it. Damon needed to know his enemies – their enemies – weaknesses. Damon had a family to protect, and that was what he was doing. But something was wrong.

"What d'you want with the moonstone?" Damon asked.

"Screw you!"

"Wrong answer!"

"If he was gonna say anything, he would've already!" That was Jeremy.

"Look, I know where it is. I wanna know what it does and why you want it."

"I'm getting it for Katherine."

"Why?"

Rebecca didn't care why; she had just figured something out. She rushed back into the room, Chelsea still in her arms.

"Damon! Stop. Whatever you're doing to him, she's feeling it!"

Damon looked from Mason to Chelsea. It seemed to click for him too. Whenever Mason had been hurt, Chelsea had cried. When Mason had choked on the wolfsbane, Chelsea had gotten sick.

Damon cursed internally. Well, he couldn't do anything to Mason now. He wouldn't hurt Chelsea like that, not now that he knew what was going on.

"Katherine's gonna use the moonstone to lift the curse," Mason said, looking at Rebecca.

"Of the moon?" Damon asked incredulously. "Now why would a vampire help a werewolf break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"

"So I wouldn't have to turn anymore."

"Why?"

"Because she loves me," Mason said.

Rebecca scoffed. "Oh, boy."

Damon laughed. "N – now I get it. You're just stupid. Katherine doesn't love you; she's using you, you moron!"

"I'm done talking," Mason said.

"Yes, you are." Damon looked at Jeremy. "It's time to take a walk, Jeremy."

"I'm staying."

"No, you're not," Rebecca said. "You're going, and you're taking Chelsea with you."

Rebecca knew Mason needed to be dealt with, but she wasn't going to let Chelsea be here when it happened. Who knew what would happen to Chelsea?

Once Jeremy left with Chelsea – as in left the house – Damon looked at Rebecca, giving her a chance to leave too, but she shook her head.

"You want me to kill you, Mason. It really is a curse, isn't it?"

The whole horrible day ended with Damon ripping Mason's heart out of his chest. He wondered what Katherine was going to do now without her pet wolf.

"Damon?" Rebecca said softly. "What're we gonna do about Chelsea? If she feels everything that happens around her . . . she's going to have a miserable life. She felt the pain Mason felt. And –"

"I know," Damon interrupted. "I didn't know or I wouldn't have done it with her so close."

"So . . . what happens now? For her? With her?"

Damon didn't know the answer to that because he didn't really know what Chelsea was.

"I don't know, Rebecca, but we'll get through this like we have everything else."


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Rebecca helped Damon wrap Mason up so they would be able to move him easier later. In the middle of that, Elena brought Stefan home and Rebecca didn't know what had happened, but he looked rough. He had the moonstone, however. It was a small thing and Rebecca wished she knew what the big deal was about this stupid stone.

"All this for that?" Damon asked.

"Yup," Stefan answered. He looked at the body wrapped up in the tarp. "I see you executed your usual restraint."

"Had to be done," Damon said, shrugging. "You know that."

To Damon that remark was true, Rebecca knew. When it came to threats it was kill or be killed, and Mason had tried to get both Stefan and Damon killed. He had gone after Rebecca too, which had automatically marked him for death in Damon's eyes.

Damon got Mason's cell phone and wallet out from the tarp and began texting Carol Lockwood. He spoke the message out loud:

Hi, Carol:

Big opportunity in Florida. Gonna be gone for a long time. Will send for my things once I get settled.

Much love,

Mason

"Let's get rid of the body," Stefan said, leaning over the folded up tarp.

Rebecca noticed he was moving slower than normal and became concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I had to go through vervain to get that rock, though."

"Vervain?"

"Ooh," Damon said, a little too excited to be speaking about his brother falling into a well of vervain. "Last number dialed. I wonder who that could possibly be."

"Damon, no. Don't provoke her," Stefan said.

Damon had already dialed the number. Rebecca knew that Damon thought he would reach Katherine, and he was probably right. Stefan began chasing Damon around and trying to get the phone away from him. Damon, in pure big brother fashion, didn't let Stefan have it.

"Mason," was the response from the other end of the phone. "You should've been here an hour ago."

Damon and Stefan stopped horsing around and Rebecca became alert too.

"Wrong boy toy," Damon quipped, after which Stefan smacked him.

Rebecca didn't know what to think about taunting Katherine because on the one hand it felt awesome to have one up on the evil little wench, but on the other . . . Katherine had no problem being vengeful. If they messed up her plans then she would pay them back with interest.

"Damon. For once you've surprised me. I assume Mason's with you."

"He's right beside me. Although his heart's across the room."

There was a pregnant pause while Damon's words sunk in.

"You shouldn't have."

"I've had a very busy day today. Killed a werewolf, found the moonstone. Hey, did you know that he hid the moonstone in the bottom of a well filled with vervain? Guess he didn't trust you very much. Though he did love you, poor guy. Hey, where are you? 'Cause you know, I can bring him over. Last goodbyes and all that."

Stefan and Rebecca shared a look. They both knew that Damon changing subjects quickly was his way of trying to catch Katherine off guard.

"You have no idea what you've just done," Katherine said.

"Oh, did I put a kink in your master plan? I'm so sorry."

"Do you honestly believe that I don't have a Plan B? And, if that fails, a Plan C and then a Plan D and . . . you know how the alphabet works. Don't you?" Another pause and then, "Send my love to Stefan. And by the way, how did Chelsea fair when you were torturing Mason? I bet she felt every little thing you did to him."

Damon's face hardened and he threw the phone into the wall. It smashed to pieces and those pieces landed everywhere.

"How did Katherine know about Chelsea?" Rebecca asked, her heart pounding rapidly. "Damon, how did she know?"

"I don't know."

Rebecca felt panic fill her. It was the same panic she'd felt when she had come home that one night to find Chelsea missing. She felt the same rage that had filled her when she'd found out John Gilbert had been behind it. She knew what had happened to John was because he had messed with Chelsea.

Katherine had now messed with the wrong person.  
\----------  
When Elena arrived home, she found Alaric and Jenna in the kitchen making dinner. Alaric was cutting up vegetables and Jenna was setting places for four at the table. When she came into the kitchen Alaric looked at her with concern. She nodded to let him know that she was okay.

"Where's Jeremy," Elena asked.

"Uh, he came home earlier. He had Chelsea with him. He said he wasn't hungry. Everything go okay today?"

"There were a few hiccups, but yeah."

The phone rang and Jenna answered, but after a few seconds she handed the phone to Elena.

"Who is it?" Elena asked.

Jenna shrugged and went over to the sink to begin washing the dishes that had already been used.

"Hello?" Elena said as she put the phone to her ear.

"Hello, Elena," came a familiar but not welcome voice. "Did you enjoy your little rendezvous with Stefan this morning?"

"Katherine?"

"I will always know, Elena. I will always be one step ahead of you. When're you gonna figure that out? Do you know how easy it was to get inside of your house? To replace Aunt Jenna's vervain perfume? To convince her to stop drinking her special tea?"

"No," Elena said.

Elena looked at Jenna, who was now cutting a loaf of fresh bread into slices.

"Jenna's been my little spy for days now. But, unlike you, Jenna actually listens to me. So when I suggested that the world would be a much better place if she were to just -"

Jenna lifted up the knife she'd been using and before either Elena or Alaric could get to her, Jenna had stabbed herself in the stomach.

Elena had dropped the phone and rushed to her aunt's side. Alaric had gotten there first.

"Jenna!"

Jenna was unconscious on the floor.

"Jeremy," Elena yelled. "Jeremy!"

Elena didn't know what to do other than call for an ambulance.  
\----------  
Rebecca had gone to the hospital when she had gotten the call from Jeremy telling her that Katherine had compelled Jenna to stab herself. She had been planning on going to the Gilbert's anyway to get Chelsea, but now Chelsea was at the hospital too.

Rebecca wondered if that was smart considering the girl was maybe empathetic and she'd be able to feel the pain from the people there. But Chelsea wasn't crying, so Rebecca assumed that meant she wasn't in pain.

Jeremy, Rebecca, and Chelsea were still in the waiting room when Elena came out from the ER.

"Is she okay?" Jeremy asked, standing and going to his sister; Rebecca stayed seated with Chelsea on her lap.

"The doctors told Alaric that she got lucky. She's gonna make it."

"Does she remember what happened?" Rebecca asked.

"No, nothing. It's all part of Katherine's mind compulsion."

"Why would Katherine want to hurt Jenna?"

"Because she's trying to send a message. That she could get to anybody."

Elena turned away, but not before Rebecca saw the tears fall from her eyes.

"Hey, hey, come here," Jeremy said, grabbing Elena and holding her to him. "It's gonna be okay."

"No, it's not," Elena countered.

"She's gonna pay, Elena. I don't know how, but she's gonna pay."

"Yes, she is," Rebecca answered.

Katherine couldn't get away with hurting people Rebecca loved. She'd gone after Caroline and now she'd gone after Jenna. It had to end now.

Once Elena went back in to see Jenna, Rebecca asked Jeremy a question that she should've asked to begin with.

"Was Chelsea okay when . . . you know, when Jenna . . . ?"

"She cried for about a minute. By then Jenna was unconscious, so . . . I guess that meant Chelsea couldn't feel anything after that."

Rebecca nodded, all the while thinking they really needed to figure this Chelsea thing out.  
\----------  
Later that evening Elena walked into the study at the Salvatore boardinghouse because that was where Stefan was. She needed to talk to him.

"We were stupid," Elena said, and Stefan, who had been standing with his back to her, turned around. "Sneaking around, thinking that we weren't gonna get caught."

"I know," Stefan agreed.

Elena could see the pain written all over Stefan's face and she knew he would see the same on hers. They felt the same amount of pain, but Elena's was caused by so much more than this break up. Elena had people she had to protect. She knew Stefan cared about her family because they were her family, but apart from Damon, who could take care of himself, Stefan had no one he had to look after.

"We did this, Stefan. Jenna's in the hospital and Jeremy could be next. All because we didn't listen to her – because . . . because we're together. Stefan -"

"I know what you're gonna say, Elena," he said.

"Then let me say it. I've been so selfish because I love you so much, and I know how much you love me. But it's over. Stefan, it has to be."

"Elena -" Stefan shook his head, eyes filling up with tears.

"Stefan." Elena grabbed his face and stroked his cheeks. "It has to be."

Elena kissed him goodbye and walked out of the room. She felt as if she were cutting a limb off of herself; that was how much it hurt to walk away from Stefan.

When she walked past the parlor she saw that Rebecca and Damon were there. Rebecca still had Chelsea, Elena noticed. She didn't know what had happened earlier with Mason, but she was sure something had. Rebecca hadn't wanted to let Chelsea out of her sight since she'd picked her up at the hospital.

"Elena," Damon called out to her. "I'm – I riled Katherine up. I wasn't thinking; I didn't think."

Elena knew that this was Damon's own way of apologizing. For once, she didn't think he needed to apologize. He was not responsible for Katherine's actions – he hadn't made her compel Jenna to hurt herself.

"It doesn't matter, Damon. She won. Katherine won."  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon made their way to the bedroom with Chelsea – they weren't going to be leaving her alone any time soon, not until they figured out what was going on with her.

"Damon . . . we need to get rid of Katherine. She knows about Chelsea and there's no way she won't use her to get to us. To me."

"I don't think she'd be stupid enough to try to kill you. You're stronger than her and she's alone."

"We think she's alone," Rebecca corrected. "She could have someone else working for her. She had Chase and then Mason and she manipulated Caroline into helping her."

Damon knew what Rebecca said was true. Katherine needed to be dealt with. Katherine would use Chelsea against them.

"We'll find a way to get rid of her," Damon said. "We'll do it tomorrow. For now, we'll just watch out for Chelsea."  
\----------  
The next day around noon, Caroline went down to the cellar where her mom was and, since she didn't want to face her mom on her own, she took Rebecca with her. Rebecca had made Liz breakfast, but the woman hadn't touched it. The tray was still on the stool Rebecca had set it on.

Liz, who had been lying on the cot Damon had provided, sat up when Rebecca and Caroline walked in.

"Good news," Caroline said. "Dr. Damon said the vervain's almost out of your system. So with any luck, you'll be freshly compelled and back in your own bed by tonight."

Rebecca could tell Caroline was being falsely cheerful, but it had no effect on Liz. Liz wouldn't even look at Caroline.

"Are you really just gonna pretend like I don't exist?" Caroline asked.

That got a reaction. Liz looked up, glared at her daughter, and said, "Yes. So please go."

Caroline scoffed. "As usual, you don't care. Got it."

Rebecca touched Caroline's back just to let the blond know that she cared, and Caroline picked up the tray of food so they could leave.

"Just like before I was a vampire," Caroline continued. "It's not like I died or anything."

As Caroline reached to open the door Liz's voice stopped her. "Are you . . . Are you really dead?"

"Yes and no," Caroline answered.

"How is it possible?" Liz asked.

Rebecca hadn't thought about it until just then, but Liz had never had the time to grieve for her loss; she'd only found out Caroline was a vampire, so Liz hadn't had time to take in that her daughter had died and come back to life.

Rebecca looked at Caroline and then back at Liz. "Caroline's newer at this than I am," she explained. "Can I tell you how this works?"

Liz swallowed nervously. "You attacked me."

Rebecca sighed. "You were gonna kill Damon," she said as if that explained it all, which to her it did. "He and Chelsea are my snapping points, Liz. I'm not rational when it comes to them. But I can explain . . ."

Liz nodded.

"Good. First thing you need to understand is that Caroline is not a killer. Not all vampires kill people to feed. You don't have to kill the person when you feed on them, not if you don't take too much blood or cause them to bleed out."

"I mainly drink from blood bags," Caroline said, hope in her voice. "It's not as good as the fresh stuff, but it beats the animal blood that Stefan's been trying to get me to drink."

"So you steal the blood from the hospital?" Liz asked.

"Damon does. I've been pilfering his supply."

"So as long as you have blood you don't need to kill?"

Rebecca couldn't believe how calm Liz was, but she was happy the woman was trying. Caroline needed her mother. But Rebecca dreaded Caroline's answer to Liz's question; depending on how Caroline worded it, Liz may or may not understand.

"I want to," the blond said. "It's my basic nature now. But on a healthy diet, I can control it. I'm getting better at it. I'm better than Stefan already. He's a bit of a problem drinker. A blood-aholic."

"I don't want this for you," Liz whispered.

"I know. But when life gives you lemons . . ."

Liz widened her eyes and smiled sadly. Rebecca could tell that Liz couldn't believe that her daughter was taking everything so well.

"Caroline has become an amazing girl, Liz. You should've seen her yesterday. From what I've heard, she saved Stefan's and Elena's lives."

"I pulled Stefan from a well, and he was all vervained and just rotted, but Bonnie wasn't mean to me once and I just . . . I really think it's progress. You know?"

Liz looked at Caroline, confused. She didn't seem to understand about the Bonnie thing.

"Bonnie doesn't like vampires," Rebecca explained.

"No, because she's a witch," Caroline said. Then seriously, "Am I freaking you out?"

"It's just that you're become this person . . . This strong, confident person."

"Oh . . ." Caroline didn't seem to know how to take a compliment from her mother. "Thank you."

"You don't have to take my memories away. I'll keep your secret. Look, if you're worried about them just say you compelled me. I won't tell. I'll never do anything to hurt you."

Caroline smiled softly. "You know we never talk like this. Ever. And today meant so much to me."

"Me too."

Both Liz and Caroline had tears in their eyes. Rebecca felt like she was going to cry too. She knew Caroline craved attention and affection from her mother, and she'd finally gotten it.

"I know. I know I can trust you," Caroline said, sliding onto the bed so she could be beside Liz. "But you're never gonna trust them."

"Care . . ." Rebecca said as it registered that Caroline wasn't going to leave Liz with her memories.

"I'm going to take you home," Caroline told Liz, locking eyes with her; the vervain seemed to be out of her system. "You're going to forget that I'm a vampire and everything you learned the day of the park clean-up. You'll remember you got sick with the flu. You had a fever, chills, and ickiness, but I made you soup. It was really salty. We bickered and you got better. And then your selfish little daughter, who loves you no matter what, went right back to ignoring you."

Caroline had been able to hold it together long enough to compel her mother. Then she had turned into a sobbing mess of blonde curls. Rebecca grabbed her shoulders to pull Caroline in for a hug.

"Care . . . hey. You're gonna be okay. Okay? You're mom accepted you as a vampire. She loves you as you are."

Caroline nodded, but continued to cry in Rebecca's arms. Rebecca didn't mind. She had no problem with helping her friends when they needed her.  
\----------  
"So how are we going to protect your sister?" Caroline asked. "I don't want anything to happen to her either."

"I don't know, Care. I mean, there's something going on with her. She's empathic or something."

"I could tell that the other night when she cried because of me and I heard what happened with Mason."

Rebecca nodded, remembering what had happened also. She and Damon would have to be careful with how they did things now because whatever they did to other people and whatever they felt while doing those things . . . Chelsea would feel it.

"What about Jenna?" Caroline asked softly. "What are we going to do about her?"

"I don't know. She doesn't remember anything about Katherine compelling her, but we know she's not on vervain, so one of us – me or Damon – will compel her to think she walked into a knife."

"Walked into a knife?" Caroline scoffed. "Yeah, because that's a common occurrence."

Rebecca giggled. "I know, right. But it's a freak accident that could happen."

Caroline smiled a little. Rebecca was glad her blond friend wasn't crying anymore.

"Hey, Care. Do you want me to come with you when you take your mom home?" Rebecca sighed. "I don't know when Katherine will show up, so . . ."

Caroline shook her head. "No. Katherine hasn't really been bothering me since she found out you knew about what she was doing."

"Oh, okay. Well, that's one thing Katherine's doing right."

At that moment, Damon came down the stairs with Chelsea in his arms. She was happy, it seemed. She was giggling because Damon was stopping every few seconds and tossing her in the air only to catch her on the way down.

Caroline just stopped and stared at the spectacle that was Damon with Chelsea. Rebecca understood that Caroline couldn't believe that the same Damon who had treated her so horribly when he'd first arrived in Mystic Falls was the same Damon who was being so playful and adorable with Chelsea.

They were one and the same – two different pieces to the same jagged puzzle.

"Good afternoon, Damon," Rebecca said.

"Hey, Becca. Blondie."

"Damon," Caroline said. "I'm taking mom home tonight."

"I heard," he said. Damon seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "You did the right thing, Caroline."

Caroline was surprised that Damon had called her by her first name, if her wide eyes were anything to go by.

"Really?" She sounded insecure, and Rebecca knew part of that was because of Damon.

"Yes. Maybe your mom will understand one day, but for now . . ."

"Best to keep her in the dark?"

"Yes," Damon agreed again. "To keep us safe."

"Thank you is what he's trying to say," Rebecca said.

"What she said," Damon said, smirking.

"Gin!" Chelsea shouted. "Gin!" Chelsea was bouncing up and down and giggling.

"You wanna do it again?" Damon asked, grinning at the girl.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" the little girl screamed.

"Okay. Here we go . . ."  
\----------  
Later that night, after Caroline had taken her mom home, she went to the Grill. She needed to see Matt and she was hoping that he was working that night.

Luckily for her, he was.

"Do you need a table?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I'm – I'm not staying," she said. "I just . . . needed to use the little girls' room.

Caroline went to the bathroom feeling like a doofus. She had only stopped by to get a glimpse of Matt; she hadn't expected Matt to notice her. Caroline also hadn't expected to find Katherine in the bathroom. Caroline knew Elena was at the hospital with Jenna, so this had to be Katherine. Plus, Elena didn't dress like a hooker, and Katherine did, so that was another clue.

"Elena?" Caroline said, feigning ignorance.

"Hey, I saw you with Matt. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. You know, it's whatever."

Caroline had to go now or she was going to get herself in trouble. She tried to super-speed out the door, but Katherine got in front of her to block her exit.

"You're good," Katherine complimented. "What gave me away? Was it the hair or was it the clothes?"

"I know Elena's at the hospital."

"Hm. I need you to deliver a message," Katherine said.

Caroline tried to stand her ground, but she ended up backing up into a bathroom stall.

"What's the message?"

"Tell Damon and Stefan I want the moonstone or I will rip this town apart until it rains blood. Tomorrow night at the masquerade ball."

"I'll go right now," Caroline said softly.

Why hadn't she taken Rebecca up on her offer to come home with her? This whole thing could've been avoided if she had let Rebecca come with her.

"You do that," Katherine said before walking away.

Caroline didn't waste any time in going to the boardinghouse. She had to tell Rebecca what had happened.

Caroline knocked on the front door before letting herself in. Rebecca and Damon were sitting on the floor with Chelsea between them. The little girl was learning to run really well. She seemed to be happy to be able to be up moving around.

"I saw Katherine at the Grill," she blurted out. "I just stopped by to gawk and . . . quasi-stalk Matt."

Caroline then went on to explain everything that had happened, everything Katherine had wanted them to know. Stefan showed up in the middle of her explanation and Caroline knew he'd been able to hear from wherever he'd been in the house.

"She wants to do it in public," Stefan said. "Killing Mason threw her off guard."

"She's running scared," Damon said. "What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks."

"We can't underestimate her," Stefan said. "We have to play this smarter than her."

"Can't we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?" Caroline asked.

"No, we can't, Care. We don't know what she wants it for," Rebecca explained.

"Well, what do we do then?"

"We'll go to the masquerade ball, and then I'm gonna kill her," Damon said. "Tomorrow night."

"You're not gonna kill her," Stefan said firmly. "Because I am."

Caroline noticed that Damon grinned at that. He and Stefan were having a brotherly bonding moment. Granted, they were bonding over something strange, but she guessed they both had a reason for wanting Katherine dead.

"I still don't have a dress," Rebecca said. "With everything going on, I haven't had time to do much of anything."

"You do have one," Damon said. "You just didn't know it."

Caroline watched Rebecca's eyes light up at the mention of Damon saying that she did have a dress. Caroline assumed that Damon meant that he had gotten her one. He had taken care of it because Rebecca had been too busy to do it herself.

Maybe Damon had changed. Well, it was obvious he had, actually. Caroline actually saw why Rebecca could be with Damon even after how he had treated her when she'd first met him. Caroline couldn't forget the things Damon had done to her, but she could start to forgive.  
\----------  
Rebecca ended up spending the night with Caroline because the blond had been shaky from her confrontation with Katherine. Rebecca left Chelsea with Damon because Rebecca knew she'd have to go to the hospital in the morning. She was planning on compelling Jenna before they even considered bringing her home – they couldn't have her suddenly remembering she had felt suicidal enough to stab herself all because Elena, who had really been Katherine, had told her to.

"Hey, Becca . . ." Caroline called from her side of the bed. They had been lying there for about 30 minutes, but the thing about being a vampire was that unless you were extremely tired, it was super difficult to fall asleep at night.

"Yeah?"

"Will you teach me how to fight? I mean, like you do. Like a Slayer would? I just . . . I hate being weak. Even though I'm a vampire . . . people still use me and I don't like it."

Rebecca thought it was a great idea for Caroline to learn how to fight. One day Caroline was going to be away from help of any kind and she'd have to be able to take care of herself.

In fact, Rebecca had always thought it would be practical for every one of her friends to learn to fight. Elena, especially, because she was always getting herself in danger. Bonnie, Rebecca wasn't so worried about because she was a witch and could take care of herself just fine, but other people like Jeremy and anyone else that had been dragged into this supernatural mess needed to know how to defend themselves.

"Sure. We can start tomorrow, if you want to."

"Okay." And then, insecurely, she said, "You're not gonna hurt me, are you?"

"No," Rebecca said, giggling. "I'm not even going to be fighting you tomorrow. I'll just show you some basic moves that everyone needs to know and then we'll go from there."  
\----------  
The next morning, Rebecca went from Caroline's house to Elena's. Matt was at Elena's too, so Rebecca assumed Matt would be going with them to the hospital; so would Jeremy be, Rebecca thought.

They all arrived at the hospital around noon and Rebecca did as she said she was going to do and compelled Jenna to think she'd walked into a knife.

The doctor told Elena that Jenna was ready to go home, but she would have to take it easy. The doctor wrote out a prescription for pain medicine, which Matt and Jeremy went to get filled at the hospital pharmacy while Rebecca and Elena stayed and helped Jenna get dressed.

"A'right, easy. Easy," Rebecca said.

"Becca, stop fussin'. I'm fine."

"The doctor said that you have to take it easy," Elena reminded her aunt.

"Yeah, you don't wanna rip your stitches open, hemorrhage and die, a'right?" Rebecca quipped.

"Yeah, the only thing I'm going to die from is embarrassment. I walked into a knife. How does somebody do that?"

"It was a . . . freak accident," Elena said, looking at Rebecca.

"Yeah, it happens."

"It's happened to me, like, twenty times at the Grill," Matt's voice came from the doorway of the room.

Jenna chuckled but then grabbed her stomach. Rebecca grimaced because she knew that had to hurt.

"Okay, I'm being nice," Matt said. "It's never happened to me before. Be careful, a'right? Easy."

Jenna was fully dressed now and so Jenna let Rebecca and Elena help her out of the room. Elena had already signed the release forms; the only reason they doctor had asked for Elena's signature was because he had wanted to know who would be taking care of Jenna when she was released.

Jeremy was outside Jenna's room holding a paper bag filled with Jenna's prescriptions.

"We ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Elena answered. "Thanks for getting those filled."

"No problem," he said, shrugging. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"We're gonna go home and eat lunch," Elena said.

Rebecca could tell that wasn't what Jeremy had been talking about. Jeremy was still worried about Katherine, as well he should be.

"Matt, can you help Jenna out to the car? I need to talk with Elena and Jeremy," Rebecca said.

"Sure," Matt said, though he seemed to not know why Rebecca needed to talk to the two others without him.

"Thanks."

After Jenna and Matt were out of earshot Jeremy spoke again. "What're we gonna do about Katherine?"

"We're not gonna do anything, Jeremy."

"She tried to kill Jenna. We can't let her get away with that."

"Yes, we can," Elena countered. "If it keeps us safe, then we can."

"And what if she tries something else?" Jeremy asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She won't. Katherine hurt Jenna because I didn't do what she said. Well, I'm doing it now. Stefan and I are over; she wins. The end."

"You're being naïve and you know it."

Elena shook her head and began walking away from the two of them. Rebecca agreed with Jeremy; Elena was being extremely naïve.

"Jeremy, I know you want Katherine gone as much as I do, so . . . I should tell you that we're planning on getting rid of her tonight."

Jeremy's eyes widened and he looked confused. Rebecca explained everything that had happened to Caroline the night before and he nodded to show his understanding.

The only thing he had to say was, "Can I help?"


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Bonnie was knocking frantically on the front door of the Salvatore Boardinghouse. She had gotten a call from Stefan not even thirty minutes ago and he had sounded in desperate need of her help. He'd asked her to bring her Grimiore over.

Caroline opened the door and let her in. They both went into the living room and she noticed that almost everyone was there. It seemed that the boardinghouse was starting to live up to its name – everyone congregated here.

Rebecca and Jeremy were here; Caroline seemed to be here more than she was at home these days; even Alaric was here. Elena was missing, however, but Bonnie assumed that was because Jenna had been let out of the hospital and was now at home resting. Jenna would need someone to care for her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We're gonna kill Katherine," Jeremy said.

Bonnie's eyes widened and she shook her head. "What? When?"

"Tonight at the masquerade party," Rebecca answered.

Bonnie then noticed all the weapons that were laid out on what was usually the liquor table. Ric was behind it showing Damon some contraption that could be strapped onto his arm. It had two thick stakes and two smaller ones on the side of it.

"It fits nicely under a jacket sleeve. Here's the trigger." Ric pointed to a lever at the end of it. "When you're ready . . ."

Ric pulled the lever and a stake shot out into Ric's waiting hand. He caught it and then thrust out like he would if he was actually going to stake someone.

Damon looked at Ric with a weird expression. It almost seemed like Damon was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of Ric's knowledge.

"What? You told me you wanted me to teach you how to kill vampires."

"Well." Rebecca grinned smugly. "I already know how to do that. And I don't need a weapon like that to do it. If it had been up to me, Katherine would've died the day she arrived in Mystic Falls."

"Guys, are you sure this is a good idea?" Bonnie asked. "I mean, I know you love Elena, Stefan, and you wanna be with her, but it's risky. Too many people can get hurt."

"Look, I want Elena back, yes, but it's more than that. And what Katherine did to Jenna, it crossed a line, and she has to be stopped before it happens again."

"I don't know, Stefan," Bonnie said reluctantly.

"Katherine knows me, okay. She knows I'm not gonna try something in a crowd full of innocent people. That gives me an edge; we'll catch her by surprise."

Bonnie hadn't thought about that before. She'd never considered the fact that Katherine wouldn't expect them to do anything in public. It did give them an edge Bonnie hadn't known they had.

"I could do a spell to trap her. Like the tomb spell," Bonnie offered.

"Right, and we can isolate her away from the others. Please, Bonnie."

"Okay," Bonnie agreed. "But –"

"Bonnie. Most of the people in this room don't want anyone other than Katherine to get hurt," Rebecca said. "We understand that you don't want to risk other people's lives. So thank you."

"Okay." Bonnie nodded to accept Rebecca's thanks, but then looked at Stefan. "Who's all in this?"

"Ric's going to be at Elena's. He's watching out for her and Jenna."

"Oh. Can you watch Chelsea then?" Rebecca asked. "I usually take her with me to these things, but since Katherine's gonna be there . . . I don't want her there."

"Sure," Ric said.

Rebecca went upstairs to Chelsea's room and stopped at the doorway. Chelsea was sleeping peacefully, her small hands tucked up under her chin. She was the epitome of innocence, Chelsea was.

Rebecca sensed Damon behind her and leaned back into his chest when he put his arms around her.

"This is the real reason you want Katherine gone, isn't it," Damon asked. "Because of her."

Rebecca nodded. There was no use denying it.

"You're another reason, but yes. Chelsea is defenseless against Katherine, or anyone Katherine will send after me or us."

Damon nodded. "I have something to run by you then."

"Okay. What?"

"We can't actually kill Katherine," Damon said. "She's a well of information we may need sometime."

"That's what books are for," Rebecca said. "We don't need anything from her."

"Well, she knows about Chelsea. What if we could get that information from her?"

"She's not just gonna hand that juicy little tidbit over."

"No, but we can lock her in the tomb until she decides to."

Rebecca was not happy with the suggestion, but she knew Damon had a point. Katherine had been around for a long time. She would be useful if they needed information.

"Okay. I don't like it, but okay."  
\----------  
At the Gilbert residence Elena was walking Matt to the door. She was glad he'd decided to come home with her. Jeremy and Rebecca had bailed, so Elena had had to bring Jenna home herself.

"You know, you don't have to leave. You could stay. Alaric's coming over; it's gonna be pizza and bad TV," Elena offered.

"Uh, I'd love to, but I'm going to the masquerade party at the Lockwood's tonight. Aren't you?"

"Uh, no. Not with what's going on with me and Stefan."

"I've gotta go, there's somethin' that I've gotta do," Matt said, explaining his reason for going to a party he normally would not be interested in.

"What?" Elena only asked because Matt had sounded serious.

"Just somethin'. I can't talk about it, but I've gotta go."

"Oh. Okay," Elena said. "Well, have fun."

Elena was less than enthusiastic. Every one of her friends were going to be out that night having fun. Elena was going to be at home pigging out and watching bad acting.

"Yeah, me in a suit?" Matt said uncertainly.

"You look good in a suit."

Matt smiled widely at the compliment, but he sobered up pretty quickly. "You and Stefan will work it out."

"Um . . . I don't think so, Matt. There's so much about me and Stefan that'll never work." The least of which was Stefan's crazy ex. Katherine was a huge problem for Stefan and Elena, but that wasn't the only problem they had as a couple. Stefan was a vampire and wouldn't age, and Elena was human. She would age and eventually die because she didn't want to be a vampire.

Matt walked toward her and grabbed her shoulders. He looked into her eyes and sincerely said, "You know I'm here for you always."

Elena smiled softly and hugged Matt. She was glad that their friendship was still intact even though they had broken up almost a year ago.  
\----------  
Back at the boardinghouse Alaric was telling Stefan that he wouldn't let Elena out of his sight.

"Don't let her know what's happening," Rebecca said. "If she knows what we're doing she'll throw a fit."

"A'right," Stefan said. "Anyone wanna back out, we'll understand."

Alaric was fine with everything, it seemed. He was just standing there with his arms crossed. Caroline seemed nervous, but was firm in her decision to get rid of Katherine. Bonnie was still uncertain. Jeremy had no qualms to speak of.

Damon, Stefan, and Rebecca were all on the same page.

"Yeah, cold feet, speak now," Damon said. "I don't want this going wrong when someone chickens out. Caroline?"

"I won't," Caroline said. "Look, she killed me. Fair's fair. As long as there are no werewolves running around."

"Oh, I took care of Mason."

"And as long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn," Jeremy said.

The only one left was Bonnie; no one knew where she stood with this.

"Bonnie? You still with us?"

Bonnie looked at everyone and nodded. "But no one gets hurt."

"Except Katherine," Damon said.

Everyone was on board with the plan, Damon was glad to find. Now he could get to the fun part of the evening and show Rebecca the dress he'd gotten her. Bonnie and Caroline had to leave so they could get ready, and Alaric had to leave so he could baby-sit. Sadly, Elena needed it more than Chelsea; Elena got in more trouble than the baby did. Jeremy was going with Alaric, so he could get ready for the ball too.

Once everyone but Stefan had gone, Damon led Rebecca to their room. On the bed was a bag, a dress bag. Damon had gotten it specifically for Rebecca and for this occasion. He had seen a few other dresses he wouldn't have minded seeing Rebecca in but wouldn't have wanted to have anyone else see her.

"Damon, you did think about me wearing this in public, yes?" she asked softly.

"Yes," he answered, amused that their thoughts had pretty much been the same.

He watched as Rebecca unzipped the dress bag and smiled at her awed and pleased expression. The dress was a teal color. If it had been a lighter green it would've matched Rebecca's eyes. The top of the dress was made of silk and the lower part was made of a light sheer fabric that was see-through. There were many layers, though, so nothing would be seen that shouldn't have been.

There were peacock feathers flowing down the right side of the dress and they stopped about two inches from the end of her dress. The dress stopped about three inches above the knee. Well, if he'd made the calculations right, it would stop above her knees.

"Damon. I could've picked this out myself. I love it."

Damon let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He hated giving gifts because he never knew if the person was going to like it or not.

"You should've seen the ones I passed over. I would've loved to see you in some of the things I saw."

Damon grinned when Rebecca blushed. Even after all the things they'd done together in the bedroom she was still just as modest about her body as she'd ever been – unless she was performing in a concert, he remembered. She hadn't been modest then.

"And now . . ." Damon made a show of going to his dresser and opening on of the drawers. He pulled out a box and opened it. He tilted it so Rebecca could see the inside.

There a mask stood – sat, actually. A black mask, of course. On the right side of the mask were feathers. It had to match the dress, so when Damon had found the mask with just the right color of feathers, he'd had to buy it. There were sequins, too, that formed a figure eight around the eyes and connected at the nose.

The mask was one that strapped on, not one that had to be held up.

Damon saw the smile form on Rebecca's lips, but he also saw tears. Uh-oh. What had happened? What had he done wrong?

"What? What don't you like?"

"Nothing. I like all of it."

"Uh . . . okay. What's with the tears?"

Rebecca giggled. "It's a girl thing, Damon. Don't worry about it. It's just, even with everything going on, you noticed I hadn't been shopping for a dress and so you did it for me."

Damon still didn't understand why she would cry about that, but he let it go. If she wanted to cry happy tears, she could cry happy tears.  
\----------  
That night Stefan, Damon, and Rebecca were the first of their friends to arrive at the Lockwood's for the party. Rebecca was enjoying the show that some performers who were playing with fire were putting on. Some were juggling these stick looking things with fire burning on one end, and others were tossing those same stick things to other performers.

"Do you see her?" Damon asked Stefan.

"Nope," Stefan said. "Are you sure you can do this?"

Damon scoffed. "Who're you talkin' to?"

Rebecca realized that Stefan still thought that they were planning on killing Katherine. Stefan wasn't on the same page they were.

"Well, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated," Stefan admitted.

"Well, that is the fork in the road between you and me, my friend," Damon said. "I don't hesitate."

"Actually, when it comes to Katherine, you both have hesitated," Rebecca said. "If it had been up to me, she would've been dead a while ago. Both of you stopped me, if I recall correctly."

"I won't hesitate," Damon said firmly.

"Okay," Stefan said.

Rebecca smiled a little. She was sure if they didn't need Katherine for something Damon wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

"Come on, guys. You're supposed to be having fun. So, Damon, let's dance. Stefan, go find someone to dance with."  
\----------  
Bonnie and Jeremy arrived at almost exactly the same time. Jeremy was responsible for the weapons and Bonnie's spell book. He had all the essentials in a bag.

He found Bonnie and led her upstairs to a room that was right off the stairway. It was close to the one he'd found Tyler in when he'd been here for the memorial service for the Mayor.

"I think this room could work," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, it's perfect," Bonnie said.

There were a few chairs and a sofa in the room. Jeremy placed his leather bag on the couch and opened it, pulling out a stake gun Alaric had given Damon to use. The next to come out was Bonnie's Grimiore.

"Is this the spell book I read about in my ancestor's journal?" Jeremy asked.

"It's my ancestor's book. The spell I'm doing here is similar to the one that sealed the vampires into the tomb."

Bonnie sat down on the sofa and opened her bag while Jeremy put the bag of weapons in the closet so whoever wanted to hide in there could choose what they wanted to use to defend their self.

"Well, can you do all the stuff that's in there?"

"I mean, it takes practice. I've worked on some small spells. Spells that only do good. I don't wanna know too much. I don't particularly enjoy any of this, in case you haven't noticed."

"Yeah, but you're a hundred percent witch; that is so cool."

"It is anything but cool." Bonnie looked at Jeremy. "Did your family journals tell you what happened to Emily? Or what about my Grams? It never ends well for people like me."

"If you feel that way, why help?"

"Because I don't want anyone else getting hurt. And I don't know how to stay out of it."

Jeremy looked at Bonnie and realized for the first time how beautiful she was.  
\----------  
"I feel like an invalid," Jenna complained.

"That's because you are an invalid," Elena teased. "Where's Jeremy? Isn't he hungry?"

The pizza had arrived a few minutes ago and now Elena was depositing the slices onto plates for everyone.

"He already left for the Lockwood party."

"He went to that?" Elena asked, feeling suspicion come to the forefront of her mind. Jeremy had made it perfectly clear ages ago that he hated the town functions and had no desire to go to them.

"I'm glad. He needs to have more fun," Jenna said. "Lose some of that emo thing."

Elena looked behind her at Ric, who was in the kitchen with his phone out. He was texting away.

"I'm gonna get some napkins."

Ric put his phone down and began trying to open a wine bottle.

"What's going on, Ric?"

"What d'you mean?" Ric asked, looking away guiltily.

"I haven't heard from anyone all day," Elena said. "It's like everyone's been avoiding me, and now Jeremy's supposedly at the party? He hates stuff like that."

Now that she mentioned it, Matt usually avoided these things too. And while Rebecca usually went to them with Damon, she didn't leave Chelsea behind.

"I don't know what to tell you, Elena," Ric said.

Ric's phone vibrated and Elena reached for it, but he snatched it from her. Elena didn't blame him; she didn't like anyone going through her phone either, but she wanted to know what was going on.

"So then you'll be okay if I just head out and just try and meet up with everyone?"

"No, wait," Ric said, grabbing her arm. "Wait."

"What're you hiding, Ric?"

"Stefan asked me to keep an eye on you," he said. "Just in case Katherine showed up while he was at the party."

"So Stefan's at the party, too?"

Ric shrugged a little and turned away from her.

"He would never go to the party for himself. He did that stuff for me."

"Just let this one go, okay, Elena?" Ric asked. "Come on, we have Chelsea to watch out for, huh?"

Elena nodded slightly. She would give it an hour and then she would try calling Jeremy and Rebecca. If they didn't answer, she'd sneak out and head to the party herself.  
\----------  
"We need to find Stefan and Damon and let them know the room's ready," Bonnie said, coming down the stairs with Jeremy following her.

At the bottom, Bonnie froze and took in her surroundings. A very weird but familiar vibe had gone through her suddenly. She'd only felt that vibe when she'd been around family, but she didn't have family here at the moment. Her mom was dead to her and her dad was out of town.

She followed that vibe until she found another caramel-colored woman.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Bonnie asked the guest.

"No, I'm a plus one. I know no one. It's a great party, though."

The woman walked away, smiling. Bonnie turned back to Jeremy, who had been watching. He wanted to know if she was okay.

"I just got a weird vibe. Let's find Damon."

They found him on the dance floor with Rebecca. The scene was so normal – both having fun, smiling, laughing, being in love – that Bonnie almost forgot that they were there for a reason. Rebecca and Damon were just a couple having a good time. That's what they looked like.

"Hey, everything's ready upstairs."

Rebecca looked suddenly grim but thanked them both.

Damon, however, said, "This spell that traps us inside the room . . . you can lift it after Katherine is taken care of, yes?"

"Yes, Damon. As much as I'm not good with Rebecca right now, I wouldn't lock her up when Chelsea needs her."  
\----------  
"Dance with me," Stefan heard Elena's voice come from behind him, but he knew it wasn't Elena. Elena was safe at home.

"No." He gave Katherine an answer she didn't want. Katherine had always had a problem with the word no.

"Fine." A waiter passed by with a tray of strawberries and Katherine picked one up. "Then tell me who I should kill. Him? Mm. He looks delicious."

Katherine bit into the strawberry and Stefan reluctantly offered her his arm and she grasped it with her hand. He led her onto the dance floor and they began dancing close together so they could talk without being overheard.

"It's a beautiful night," Katherine purred.

"Why the charade?" Stefan asked, wondering why Katherine kept pretending to be Elena. Was Katherine jealous? Did Elena have something Katherine wanted?

"How's Jenna? I certainly didn't expect her to survive that. Lucky girl. Clumsy. How does one stab oneself?"

Katherine was being evasive. She didn't want to answer the question.

"Katherine, I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight."

"Okay," Katherine agreed easily. "Then give me the moonstone and nobody will."

"Mm. Well, see, I don't have the moonstone on me. So you and I will have to go get it together."

"Mm. I have a better plan. You go fetch it, and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime."

Stefan chuckled. "My way, or you don't get it."

What Katherine didn't know was that Rebecca was the one who had the moonstone on her. It had come down to Bonnie and Rebecca. Rebecca was the stronger of the two, so . . . Rebecca had won that contest. Also, Rebecca was the one who was least likely to give into Katherine's antics.

"Stefan, I can't find Matt," a girl, Aimee Bradley, came up to them and said. Stefan vaguely knew her and that was only because Caroline had complained about her at some point. "Oh, Elena, you look so pretty. I love that dress. You look gorgeous."

"Thank you. I love your necklace," Katherine said. "Oh. It's twisted. Let me fix it."

Katherine got behind Aimee and, before Stefan could intervene, severed her spinal cord.

"Paralyzed from the waist down," Katherine said. "And dead."

Katherine shoved Aimee into Stefan's arms; it looked, to the casual observer, like Aimee had passed out and Stefan had caught her.

"The moonstone, Stefan. Tick tock."

Stefan watched Katherine walk away, and began walking away himself. After getting to a secluded space, he rushed to Damon's car and placed Aimee in the trunk. Bonnie was going to pitch a fit if she found out about this.

This was not going how he'd planned it. No one was supposed to get hurt. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted - having to hide a body and then find a way to dump it when they left. This was becoming a very dangerous game.

He knew Damon, and possibly Rebecca, would consider Aimee's death collateral damage. But Stefan couldn't consider it that way. They couldn't play this game with Katherine anymore.  
\----------  
Damon got a text from Stefan asking where they were and once Stefan appeared and told them what had happened Damon knew Stefan was feeling guilty about Aimee's death.

"We need to call it off," Stefan said.

"What?" both Damon and Rebecca said. Damon added, "Who's hesitating now? Don't do this to me!"

Damon grabbed his brother by the shoulders. "This woman destroyed our lives. She destroyed us. Tonight it ends. We can do it together. I got your back."

Stefan hesitated by eventually said all right. Damon knew that Stefan was just worrying about who else Katherine would kill. Damon wasn't worried about that, though he didn't want anyone else dying either.

This was his town. Nobody was allowed to kill his people but him.  
\----------  
"So, can you do, like, a hocus-pocus to ace a test?" Jeremy asked Bonnie. They had picked a table and were now waiting for a text from Damon or Rebecca to let them know Katherine had been taken care of.

"I don't know that spell," Bonnie said and smiled.

"It'd be, like, the first one I'd learn." Jeremy shrugged. "Or maybe a sex spell or something. I don't know. You wanna dance or something while we're waitin'?"

"No," Bonnie said. She was giggling too, and looking at him as if he'd grown an extra head. "I mean, no, thank you."

Jeremy wondered if Bonnie thought it was weird that he was flirting with her or that someone was flirting with her, period.

"Anyway, I can't use magic for personal gain. Magic always has a consequence and if I were to use it for something selfish there would be a backlash."

As her words sunk in, Jeremy's phone rang and, already having it in his hand, he saw that Rebecca was calling. Just who they needed to talk to.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Rebecca wanted me to tell you that Katherine's here," Damon said. He was obviously using Rebecca's phone. "We need to make her suspicious enough to seek Blondie out."

"On it."

Jeremy didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew he would do something. Katherine couldn't get away with everything she'd done. She'd made Jenna hurt herself; she'd ruined Stefan's and Damon's lives; she'd sent people after Rebecca – nobody really knew why; she'd messed up Mason's life and had gotten him involved, which had gotten him killed.

He found Katherine talking to the woman Bonnie had sensed earlier.

"Elena?" The two women turned toward him. "Hey. Could I – could I talk to my sister for a minute?"

"What is it, Jeremy?" Katherine gave the woman leave to go.

"I have a message from Stefan."

"Oh."

"He and Damon want you to meet them at the edge of the lake by the woods. They brought the moonstone."

"And why are you their little messenger?" Katherine asked scathingly.

"Because they know I'm not afraid of you."

"Mm . . . Oh, you Gilbert men. So courageous."

Jeremy shrugged. He had his ring on that would bring him back to life. He wasn't afraid of Katherine. He wouldn't have been afraid even if he couldn't come back to life. If he had to die so everyone else would be safe, then so be it.

As Katherine walked away, bait taken, Jeremy began walking the path back toward the party, but someone grabbed him and pulled him into some bushes.

"What is going on?"

It was Elena this time. She had on something Katherine wouldn't be caught dead in.

"Elena! You're not supposed to be here. You're –"

"I know, but I was worried."

"Okay, I'll explain, but there's something I have to do first."

Jeremy took out his phone and texted Caroline.

Your turn – J  
\----------  
Inside, Caroline got Jeremy's text and went off on her own; she knew Katherine wouldn't actually attack her in public. If she was pretending to be Elena, she couldn't argue with Elena's friends without people becoming suspicious.

Caroline headed to the bathroom but was confronted by Katherine. No one was around to see Caroline being slammed up against the wall.

"What are Stefan and Damon up to?" the brunette asked.

"What d'you mean?"

"I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake. What's going on?"

"I don't know. I – Nothing." Caroline put on her best frightened voice. She sounded like a small child. She suddenly wished she and Rebecca had been able to start her defense-training that day. She really didn't think she stood a chance against Katherine.

"Don't lie to me, Caroline." Katherine put a hand to Caroline's throat and began squeezing. "They're up to something. What is it?"

"I –" Caroline felt her neck begin to crack. "Wait, wait, wait! No. Okay?" When the pressure began to lessen Caroline continued speaking. "They're trying to kill you."

"Figured as much." Katherine let her go. "Where's the moonstone?"

"Rebecca has it," Caroline admitted softly.

"And where is Rebecca right now?" Katherine asked sweetly but with an underlying malice.

Caroline glared at her. "I don't know." She had to make Katherine believe how hard it would be for her to betray one of her friends.

Katherine grabbed her by the throat again, this time lifting her off the ground.

"She's upstairs! She's upstairs!"  
\----------  
Back outside, Elena was listening to Jeremy's explanation of why everyone was there and what they were doing. She thought maybe everyone had gone crazy.

"You're trying to kill Katherine here?"

"We saw an opportunity and we knew we had to take it."

"Okay, stop with the we. Are you guys crazy? You're gonna get yourselves killed."

"We know what we're doing, Elena," Bonnie tried to reassure her. Jeremy had texted her and Bonnie had shown up quickly after that.

"And how am I supposed to feel if one of you guys gets hurt because of me?"

"It's not just about you anymore, Elena," Jeremy said. "She's messed with all of us. She has to be stopped."

Elena wanted Katherine gone. She did – but she didn't want to lose someone she cared about in the process. Katherine was crazy and selfish and vengeful; she didn't really need any more reasons to go on a killing spree.  
\----------  
"Why do you keep dragging me into this? I don't want any part of it." Caroline was being dragged by her hair; Katherine was leading her upstairs when she thought Rebecca was waiting.

Well, Rebecca was, but there was also a trap waiting for Katherine that the brunette didn't know about.

"Shut up," Katherine ordered her. "Which room is it?"

"It's that one," Caroline answered, gesturing to the one closest to the stairs they had just climbed.

Katherine let her go and went in, banging the doors against the walls as she opened them. Caroline saw two chairs, a sofa, a small wardrobe thing, a coffee table, a small alcohol table, and other decorative furniture, but no Rebecca, Damon, or Stefan.

"Where is she?" Katherine asked.

Rebecca was there, just not in sight.

Caroline laughed. "I did it." Another laugh. "I really didn't think that I'd be able to fool you, but I did it."

Katherine snarled and pounced toward the door, but Caroline wasn't afraid because she knew Katherine couldn't reach outside the door frame.

"What the . . .?"

"Hello, Katherine." Caroline saw her friend come out of her hiding place. "Hey, Care."

"Hey, Becca." She looked at Katherine. "Delivered as requested. Good-bye, Katherine."


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Rebecca was proud of Caroline. She'd brought Katherine to the room like she'd been asked to do. Stefan was now standing by Katherine with a very sharp stake in his hand, but he wouldn't have been able to do that if Caroline hadn't done her part so well.

"You don't really think that you can kill me with that, now, do you?" Katherine asked him.

Stefan looked down at the weapon in his hand and calmly said, "No, but he can."

Damon had quietly opened the closet door and was grinning wickedly. He had the stake gun in his hand and Rebecca knew he wasn't afraid to use it. He let one loose and it caught Katherine in the middle of her back. She didn't scream, but a look of pain came over her face. Katherine fell to her knees and Rebecca had to admit she didn't feel any guilt at all for Katherine being in pain.

Stefan went after her, too, but only got her in the arm. Still, it was better than nothing. When he tried again, Katherine blocked him and tossed him onto the coffee table, breaking it with the impact. Damon pulled the stake out of her back and tried to use it again but was tossed into the wall for his efforts.

Rebecca had never realized how strong Katherine was until that moment. All she'd known was that she was stronger than Katherine, so Rebecca was extremely strong.

Stefan, who had the brace strapped to his wrist, triggered one stake and tossed it at Katherine, but she ducked and the stake became embedded into the wall. He triggered the second stake and threw it at her, but she caught it and threw it back at him. This time he ducked and, again, the stake became embedded in the wall, only this one was on the opposite side of the room.

Damon pulled one of the stakes free, but again got tossed around when he went after Katherine.

Rebecca could've helped, but she figured as long as the two guys didn't get hurt then she would let them handle this. This was probably cathartic for them. They were finally able to fight the vampire who had ruined their lives in 1864

Rebecca's thinking changed when Damon went after Katherine again and Katherine grabbed his hand and twisted his wrist to the point where the stake was pointed at him. Damon fought, of course, but Katherine was older and stronger. He needed help.

Rebecca grabbed Katherine and threw her toward Stefan, who grasped her into a headlock. She fought and they both ended up on the floor with Stefan on the bottom with Katherine's back to his chest and Katherine looking up at Damon and Rebecca. She actually seemed afraid.

Good.

Damon actually had the stake raised and was ready to stab Katherine with it when Jeremy came bursting in. The spell to lock people in this room was vampire-specific, so Jeremy could come and go as he pleased.

"Stop! You're hurting Elena. Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!"

Katherine tugged free and got up, yanking the stake out of Damon's hands.

"You think you guys are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong." Katherine grinned. "And something tells me that my witch is better than your witch."

"Jeremy, go check on Elena, make sure she's okay," Stefan said.

Rebecca's instincts told her to follow Jeremy because if Jeremy knew that Elena was feeling all of what had happened, then she was obviously here. She'd sneaked out of her house, apparently. But Rebecca was stuck in this room and wasn't able to follow.

"Yes, let's all make sure poor Elena's okay," Katherine seethed. She brought the stake up and sliced her open palm. "Just a little bit more pressure and –"

Catching them all off guard, Katherine swung the stake around and stabbed it right into Rebecca's stomach.

"No!" Damon shouted, rushing forward as Rebecca screamed.

"Just keeping with the theme of the evening," Katherine snarked. "I could always get another one and do the same to myself. I'll heal, but Elena . . ."

"Wait," Damon said.

"Okay. So, how 'bout that moonstone?"

Rebecca didn't know how she was actually still paying attention since she was in so much pain, but paying attention she was.

Katherine had settled onto the sofa and was looking as nonchalant as ever. Rebecca wanted to rip her head off.

Damon had knelt beside her. Rebecca hadn't realized she'd fallen down, but she had; she was on her knees. He looked absolutely livid. He was probably plotting Katherine's murder as they were sitting there. Keeping Katherine alive had probably fled his mind as soon as the stake had entered Rebecca's stomach.  
\----------  
Outside, Bonnie had helped take some of Elena's pain away. It hadn't taken long to realize that Katherine had linked herself to Elena somehow. The fact that Elena had spontaneously begun to be hurt had been the first clue.

Bonnie didn't know how to break the spell, so she was doing the next best thing - taking the pain away.

Jeremy plopped down beside his sister and asked if she was okay

"Are they?" she asked, talking about the others.

"They're stuck in there with her. You were right. Katherine had a witch link Elena to her."

"That girl I saw," Bonnie said. "The one inside. Stay with Elena. Keep pressure on her shoulder."

"Where're you going?"

"There's another witch here. I'm gonna find her."  
\----------  
Inside and upstairs, Rebecca was still in pain from the stab wound she'd received, but Damon had gotten the stake out as quickly and as painlessly as he'd been able to. Rebecca wasn't healing as quickly as she should've been.

"The four of us together," Katherine said. "Just like old times. And someone isn't feeding properly."

Damon knew it was because Rebecca didn't feed straight from the vein. Blood bags were good and convenient, but for maximum strength, she needed blood straight from the source. Damon would have to see to it that she fed from someone tonight – even if Rebecca didn't like feeding on people.

"Where's the moonstone?" Katherine asked.

"What d'you want with it?" Damon asked, not expecting to get an answer. And he didn't.

"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused," Stefan said. "Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires. So, what's in it for you?"

"Sorry about your pet wolf," Damon said. "Probably should've kept him on a tighter leash."

"I'll have to remember that for next time," Katherine said. "He's not the only wolf in town."

Damon looked at Rebecca, who was glaring at Katherine.

"Damon, I need my phone. I'm gonna get Caroline to keep an eye on Tyler."  
\----------  
When Caroline got Rebecca's text she immediately sought out Matt. Matt would be wherever Tyler was. She had seen them earlier sneaking off with a bottle of Vodka.

She focused so she'd be able to hear something other than the music. All she heard was someone screaming, "Get off." That was Tyler's voice.

She followed the yells into Tyler's dad's study. Matt and Tyler were hitting each other. To be fair, though, Tyler only seemed to be defending himself.

"What is going on? Stop!"

They were being reckless, and there was a girl with them – she hoped that the girl wasn't what they were fighting over. But there was alcohol involved, so who knew?

"Stop!" Caroline repeated.

Caroline pushed Matt onto his butt and Tyler backed off. Then Matt went at him again. Caroline didn't know what the problem was; Matt wasn't usually violent even in the worst situations. He was a gentle person by nature.

"Let me go. I have to finish it!" Matt said.

Caroline put a hand on his chest to hold him in place.

"What's wrong with you?" Tyler asked.

Caroline didn't see any other way out of this situation, so she used her elbow to knock Matt out. He was the one who seemed to have a problem, though Caroline didn't know what it was.

Matt's nose was bloody, so Caroline went to make sure there was no other damage. She hoped not – she hadn't meant to make him bleed.

"Matt?"

"How did you –" Tyler started.

Caroline looked up from her spot on the floor beside Matt only to see that Sarah girl going at Tyler with a letter opener.

"Tyler, look out!"

Tyler didn't react quickly enough. She stabbed him and he instinctively pushed her away. The result was that she fell backward and hit her head on the edge of the table. Caroline saw Tyler trembling; his hand was covered in his own blood from where Sarah had stabbed him.

Tyler knelt by Sarah. "No, no, no. Come on, wake up, Sarah. Sarah! Open your eyes, wake up."

Caroline slowly stood up and walked toward Tyler. She knew what would happen if Sarah was actually dead: Tyler would become a werewolf.

"This can't happen," Tyler said. "Oh, no, this can't happen. This can't be happening. Sarah, get up. Sarah! Open your eyes! Oh, this can't be happening."

Tyler got up and Caroline took his place beside the fallen girl. When she checked for a pulse, there wasn't one. Tyler grabbed his head as if he were in pain and fell to his knees.

"Tyler?"

Tyler hit the floor with his fists, and Caroline stood up and backed away slowly.

"Tyler?" She hoped he wasn't turning now. It wasn't a full moon – did that rule not apply the first time a person with the wolf gene killed someone? "Tyler, what's happening?

"Get away!" he growled.

"What's happening?" she yelled, her voice breaking at the end.

Tyler looked up at her and she noticed his usually brown eyes were now a deep amber color. The color wasn't natural; he had triggered the curse. Caroline had failed. Rebecca was going to be so angry at her – or maybe disappointed would be the better word.  
\----------  
"Where is that witch?" Damon asked impatiently. He had texted Bonnie with the intention of getting her to lift the spell she'd put on the room. Damon wanted to get Rebecca out of there so she could feed, but Bonnie hadn't texted back and she hadn't shown up either.

"You bargained the moonstone," Stefan suddenly said.

"What're you mumblin' about over there?"

Stefan didn't answer his brother. He was too absorbed in trying to figure Katherine out.

"When you struck a deal with George Lockwood to help you fake your death . . . You told me that you gave George something that he needed," Stefan said. "It was the moonstone, wasn't it?"

"Good for you, Stefan. Two plus two," Katherine teased. "And it would've worked, except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb." Katherine looked at Rebecca. "Thanks to you, by the way."

Damon knew she meant that when Rebecca had helped Anna free her mother from the tomb, it had become public knowledge that Katherine Pierce – or Katerina Petrova – hadn't actually been locked in there.

"But why do you – why do you need it back?" Stefan asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"I love you in a suit," Katherine deflected. "So dashing."

She obviously didn't want to talk about this anymore, but Damon could actually see where Stefan was going with this. Maybe they could just judge by the brunette's actions . . .

"What were you doing with it in the first place? Because it wasn't yours to begin with," Stefan theorized. "In 1864 you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?"

"In 1987, you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi," Katherine said.

Damon noticed that Rebecca rolled her eyes while Stefan didn't have much of a reaction; he apparently didn't think Katherine was telling the truth.

"Come on, Stefan. Don't look so surprised. Of course I checked in on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."

"Who were you running from?" Damon was glad Stefan didn't let her words faze him.

Damon watched as Rebecca picked herself up off the floor and made her way to one of the chairs. She sat down gingerly and sighed. Damon could tell this night was getting her down. So many things had gone wrong.

Nobody had expected Katherine to have consulted a witch to have herself linked to Elena. That's where the trouble had started.  
\----------  
Bonnie had finally found the woman from earlier. The woman's name was Lucy and she knew about the Bennett line of witches.

"How do you know me?" she asked Lucy.

"You figure it out. Look, I have no interest in fighting you."

"Then stop the spell you put on my friend."

Bonnie was mad at herself for not being able to do it on her own. Elena could die because of her not being able to do anything.

"Give Katherine the moonstone, and I will."

"Why are you helping Katherine? Don't you know what she is?"

"Tell your friends to hand over the moonstone, and all will be groovy."

Lucy, who was maybe a head taller than Bonnie, tried to go around her, but she got right in Lucy's path.

"You're not leaving this room until you stop the spell."

Bonnie was just glad she'd been able to corner Lucy in the dining room where no one was.

"Look, I don't wanna hurt you," Lucy claimed.

"And I don't wanna hurt you."

"Look, I don't have a choice. Katherine saved my life and now I owe her. I have to pay up."

Bonnie grabbed Lucy's arm just in case she tried to go anywhere, but she realized she'd done the wrong thing when Lucy's eyes locked on hers.

"You don't have the moonstone, but you know where it is. I can sense that."

Lucy grabbed Bonnie's hands and the lights began to flicker. A weird sense of safety and comfort filled Bonnie and it was coming from the woman in front of her.

"You feel that? You can trust me. Tell me where it is. It's okay."

Bonnie didn't know why, but she trusted this woman.  
\----------  
"We're missing the party," Katherine complained.

Damon had noticed Rebecca having to concentrate not to let her vampire visage take over. She had been hurt and had lost a lot of blood; she needed to feed, but she couldn't because she was stuck in this room. So . . . Damon gave her the next best thing: alcohol.

As he was pouring some bourbon into a glass for Rebecca, Katherine said she wanted one.

"You have two hands, two feet, no apparent disability that we know of," Rebecca said. "You can get it yourself."

Katherine glared at Rebecca, and Damon was sure that if Katherine had had a stake in her hand she would've stabbed Rebecca again. As it was, Katherine did rush toward Rebecca and yank her out of the chair. Rebecca grunted, but otherwise had no reaction. Damon realized now why Katherine had stabbed Rebecca. Katherine had wanted them on an even playing field.

Damon was quick to get Katherine away from Rebecca. He pinned the brunette up against the wall. He didn't know when he'd picked up a stake, but he had and he intended on using it until his brother pleaded with him not to.

"The second the spell is lifted, I'm gonna drive this stake right through your heart!"

Damon didn't care about leaving Katherine alive anymore. She'd gone after Rebecca twice. Everyone knew going after the people Damon cared about was as good as writing one's self a death sentence.

"Katherine," a female voice came from the doorway. "The spell in this room has been broken. You're free to leave."

"Thank God," Katherine said. "Where's my moonstone?"

"If I hand it over, my debt to you is paid."

"Done."

"I owe you nothing."

"I said done. Give it."

The woman, who Damon assumed was Katherine's witch, looked at Rebecca. Damon put her behind him so he could protect her if need be. Turns out, there was no need.

Rebecca had a cell phone holder strapped to her thigh, but since Damon had had her phone – for this very reason – she'd had the stone encased in her phone holder. Now the stone was being summoned by this witch.

"I wouldn't do that," Damon said, but the witch gave it to Katherine anyway.

Katherine started choking as soon as her hand touched the stone – the witch must've done something to it.

"You should've told me another witch was involved. She's a Bennett witch, Katherine, but I'm sure you already knew that."

Katherine fell to the floor and started to convulse. This was some powerful magic that this witch was dealing out.

"Elena!" both Stefan and Rebecca exclaimed.

"Elena's fine. The spell is broken. She'll heal quickly. Bonnie's with her. I apologize for my involvement."

When Katherine fell unconscious, the witch turned and strode away.

"Okay, then . . ." Damon muttered.

"I'm gonna check on Elena," Stefan said as he went to the door.

"I'm gonna get Katherine to the car. Who knows how long this spell will last?"

"I'm gonna –" Rebecca began.

"Feed. You're gonna feed," Damon interrupted. "Then you can do whatever you were going to say."

"Check on Caroline. I haven't heard anything back from her."  
\----------  
Once downstairs Rebecca ran into Jeremy and Bonnie and the witch who'd taken down Katherine. Rebecca had on Damon's suit jacket so she could cover the bloodstains on her dress – and she'd liked this dress, too! Of course Jeremy knew the trick she was trying to pull, so he knew something was wrong.

"Hey," she said to all three of them. "Um, have you guys seen -"

"What happened to you?" Jeremy asked.

Rebecca couldn't talk about it in the Lockwood mansion because someone might hear. Jeremy understood, so he excused himself and led Rebecca outside. She showed him her blood-covered dress with a hole in it from where she'd been stabbed, and he gaped at her for a moment.

"Becca . . ."

"I'm okay. I just need to feed and I'll be as good as new."

"Are you going home right now? You need blood right now, Becca."

"Geez, you're as bad as Damon. No, I'm not going right now. I'm going to look for Caroline and then help Damon with Katherine."

Jeremy began undoing the cuff links on his right sleeve and Rebecca knew what he was getting ready to offer.

"Jer . . ."

"Drink," he said, offering her his wrist. "I don't mind as long as you don't take too much."

"Promise you won't hate me?" she asked, because she really was tempted to drink from him.

"Promise, now drink and heal yourself."

Rebecca was tentative at first. She didn't want to hurt Jeremy by being rough. He was helping her, so she returned the favor by making this as pleasant as she knew how to. She didn't try to make this sexual at all; unlike when she'd done this with Ric, she knew how to balance the scale between pain and pleasure now. She only made the people she fed from feel a little tipsy and a little pleasure, but nothing that got anywhere near sexual arousal. It was awkward for her if she turned anyone other than Damon on when she was biting.

When she'd taken enough to at least make the ache go away, she pulled away and bit into her own wrist and offered it to Jeremy.

"Here. Don't die with this in your system. And don't tell Elena or Bonnie I did this. They won't understand."

Jeremy grabbed her wrist gently and brought it to his mouth. When he began to suck, Rebecca had to keep inside the gasp she wanted to let out. She knew sharing blood with Damon was intimate, but sharing blood with Jeremy had its own unique way of being personal and intimate.

There was nothing sexual, but there was a closeness, a bond, forming now. Jeremy was one of her humans now; she'd feel a profound loss if something were to happen to either of them.

"Okay. I have to find Caroline. I told her to watch out for Tyler and I haven't heard from her, so . . ." Rebecca trailed off because she'd seen Jeremy wince. Had she hurt him when she'd bitten him? Had he not healed?

"Becca . . . Tyler killed someone. Sarah."

"What?"

"Yeah. Carol called the sheriff and everything."

"No. I . . ." Rebecca groaned, thinking about how much this was going to complicate things.

If Tyler had killed Sarah then . . . Tyler was no longer a person with just the werewolf gene; he was actually a werewolf.

"I still have to find her. She's probably freaking out."  
\----------  
Rebecca found Caroline in Tyler's dad's old study. Carol was there too.

"Matt and I were fighting. We broke up, you know?" Caroline was explaining. "And Sarah was drunk and dancing, and she – she just tripped. Then she wasn't breathing."

"Okay. Your mom's on her way, and – and we called Sarah's parents," Carol said. She didn't seem to be compelled in any way. "It was – it was an accident. It was a terrible, tragic accident."

"Care?" Rebecca said, announcing her presence. "I'm so sorry. I heard what happened and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Carol looked relieved to have someone else in the room. "I'll prepare Liz when she gets here. Just don't leave. Just stay here, okay?" Carol looked at Caroline. "She's going to want to hear the story from you."

After Carol left, Caroline explained the scene she'd walked in on earlier. Matt had been fighting Tyler. Caroline had broken them apart, but had had to knock Matt out to keep him from going after Tyler again.

"Matt's sleeping it off in the car."

Matt Donovan had become violent? What was the world coming to? Matt wasn't like that, so what had caused it? He was the one who broke up fights, not the one that got into them. Then again . . . where Tyler was involved anyone could lose their cool.

"I'll deal with him," Caroline said. "I don't want him involved in any of this."

"What happened with Sarah?"

"She stabbed Tyler. I don't think she was acting on her own. Katherine compelled them, maybe? She needed a werewolf and now she has one, but neither Sarah nor Matt were acting like themselves."

"It probably was Katherine – she seemed almost smug about there being another werewolf in town, like she knew there would be," Rebecca said.

"Becca, I'm sorry," Caroline said. "You told me that . . . that I needed to look out for him and I failed."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known Katherine had compelled someone to go after Tyler. But I have to go before Liz gets here, okay? Plus, I think Damon's going to need me."  
\----------  
Tyler came into the study just as Rebecca was walking out. He knew the story Caroline had come up with, but he didn't understand why she had come up with it.

"Care, your mom's here." Tyler didn't let the blonde leave yet, however. "What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing a very bad situation."

She was lying for him, but he couldn't lie to himself. Someone was dead because of him. An innocent girl had died by his hands and now . . . now he was a monster and would turn into one every time there was a full moon. He would kill again probably and he didn't want that life. No sane person would.

"Why?" he asked her. "I did this. I killed her."

"No," Caroline said. "You didn't mean to."

Caroline was looking at him like those words made a difference. No, he hadn't meant to, but it didn't make Sarah any less dead.

"I think it's best for everyone –" the blonde started.

"But she's dead," Tyler said firmly. "You don't know what that means."

"Actually . . . Tyler, I think I do."

"No, you don't, Caroline," Tyler said gently. This girl was just trying to help him. He could give her props for that.

Caroline looked down at his suit jacket and looked back up. "Has your wound healed?"

It had. Tyler had checked earlier because he hadn't felt any pain after Sarah had stabbed him, but he didn't understand how Caroline knew about his wound healing fast.

Was she a werewolf too? If so, how did she deal with it? He would have to find out or talk to her about it. But he couldn't do it now. Right now all he could do was take her to her mother. Liz was waiting for an explanation.  
\----------  
It didn't take long for Stefan to find Elena. He knew Rebecca, Damon, Bonnie, and probably Jeremy, were dealing with Katherine, but Stefan needed to know Elena was okay. Even if they weren't together, he still loved her.

"Elena?" He'd found her standing by the pond on the property.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Bonnie took away the pain, and I think I'm healing."

"I know. But I think – I think you should definitely see a doctor anyway."

"I will."

Elena looked tired. It was from the blood loss. He could smell the blood on her clothes, but he'd been so worried, it didn't really bother him at the moment.

"I heard about Katherine. Is it true? Is she really gone?"

"Yeah." Stefan said, smiling softly. "Damon and Rebecca are locking her in the tomb. They can't kill her yet because she knows something about Chelsea, but she's gone, yeah."

"Stefan . . ."

"I was so worried about you," he said. It had been the worst feeling in the world, not being able to go to her, not being able to leave that room.

"I . . ." Elena grabbed his hand.

Stefan knew what she was going to say before she said it. Her eyes were guarded and not warm and passionate like they usually were.

"Katherine being gone doesn't change anything for you, does it?" he asked sadly.

"I wanna be with you, Stefan. You know that. But first I need to wake up and know that the people I love are safe. I need to feel safe. Do you understand?"

Stefan really didn't understand. If Elena loved him and the threat was gone then what was the problem. Sometimes Stefan thought he was more invested in their relationship than Elena was.  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon had met Bonnie and Jeremy at the tomb near Fell's Church in the woods by the old cemetery. Bonnie had put a barrier up at the tomb underneath the church and now Katherine was trapped.

Rebecca and Damon had decided to wait for the wench to wake up, but Jeremy had given Bonnie a ride home. He'd told them Elena had driven her own car and had decided to head on home. She was fine but tired.

Rebecca and Damon had let Katherine keep the moonstone since she couldn't actually use it if she was locked up and starved to the point of desiccation. Damon hoped the moonstone was worth it.

When Katherine woke up and tried to get out, she found she couldn't.

"Hello, Katherine," Damon said.

"Where am I?" she asked pathetically.

"Where you should've been all along. I thought you would've learned your lesson by now, messing with a Bennett witch."

"You should've killed me," she said.

"Death would've been too kind," Damon seethed.

Damon walked toward the stone door and began to lift it to close her in, but Katherine pleaded for him not to.

"Damon, don't. You need me. Elena's in danger!"

"From who?" he asked, stopping his progress. She didn't answer, of course. "You're lying. You're always lying."

"Why do you think I haven't killed her? Because she's the doppelganger. She needs to be protected."

"From what?" Rebecca asked this time. "You know we can make your stay in here more pleasant, not let you starve to death, but you have to be straight with us."

"We don't need her, Becca. We can protect Elena while she rots in hell."

"No, Damon, don't. I'll do anything," Katherine said. "Please, Damon. You need me!"

Like a hole in the head, he needed her.

"Damon! You need me – you need me!"

Damon finished closing Katherine in and Rebecca placed a hand on his back. He had all he needed right here with him outside the tomb.

"You ready to go, Damon?" she asked softly. "We need to pick Chelsea up."

He grabbed her hand and she squeezed softly. She was there for him, there to start the next chapter of their lives together – Katherine-free.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

After picking Chelsea up from Jenna's, Damon and Rebecca went back to the boardinghouse and went up to their room. Rebecca was in desperate need of a shower and a change of clothes. Instead of a shower, though, Rebecca ended up running bath water. All three of them could fit in the tub.

Damon got in first, then Rebecca, and Rebecca fit Chelsea on her lap. There were bubbles in the tub and the little girl liked playing with them and trying to eat them, but she found out real fast that they didn't taste good, so she stopped putting them in her mouth.

A few months ago, Rebecca would've freaked out about Chelsea trying to eat bubbles, but she was more laid back now. She was the type who would let Chelsea try Damon's bourbon if she wanted to just so she'd know it burnt going down and wouldn't drink again.

Rebecca was comfortable leaning back against Damon and he seemed content leaning against the tub and holding her and Chelsea.

"Damon, Caroline was too late and Tyler had already, ya know . . ." Rebecca sighed. "You know what that means. He didn't mean to; it was self-defense, but still. Caroline feels terrible, so I'm gonna go over there in the morning before she goes to school."

Not for the first time, Rebecca was glad she didn't have school to worry about.

After the bath, Rebecca got Chelsea and herself dressed in night clothes. Chelsea was put in her own room and Rebecca went back to hers, where she saw Damon standing in the middle of the room naked.

"Damon!" she exclaimed. "Where are your pants?"

"In the drawer where they always are."

She giggled. "Why are they not on you?"

Damon smirked and rushed toward her. He grabbed her and basically tackled her to the bed. He laughed along with her when they landed with him on top of her.

"Well, we can't really be doing what I want to do if I have my pants on. And you are severely overdressed."

She laughed again but became serious when he kissed her. Damon was in a playful yet gentle mood. They were going to have a fun night.  
\----------  
The next morning Rebecca got up and was surprised when Damon had already been up and had gotten Chelsea ready. He wanted to go to Caroline's with her to get the information from Blondie herself.

At Caroline's the blonde let them in and then went to her bedroom to finish getting dressed. She let Damon know what had happened the night before as she finished accessorizing.

"Does Matt remember anything?"

"No. He thinks he blacked out," Caroline said. "But I think . . . I think they were both compelled by Katherine. And that's why I covered for Tyler and said it was an accident."

"Yeah, I don't understand that. Guy's a tool."

"Too!" Chelsea said and giggled.

"Well, gee, duh! Tyler getting blamed for Sarah's death just opens up questions that he can't answer. And do you really think it's a good idea for him to tell his mom he's a werewolf?"

"Well, no," Damon said obviously.

"And that werewolf road leads straight to Vampire Boulevard." Caroline bent down to put on a pair of cowgirl boots. "I thought I was thinking fast on my feet."

"You were," Rebecca said. "Good job."

"Where's your mom?" Damon asked.

"Leading the search party for Aimee Bradley. They haven't found her body yet."

"Oh, teens today and their underage drinking," Damon quipped. "Tragic. Wait, did you see Tyler's eyes turn yellow?"

"They were gold with amber highlights."

"Oh."

"Can he turn into a wolf now?" Caroline asked, worried.

"Only on a full moon. But now he has increased strength and who knows what else? I wonder how much Mason told him. Does he know about us?"

Caroline was busy texting now and ignoring Damon. He didn't like it.

"Hey. What'd you tell him?" he asked.

"Nothing, really. I – I don't think he knows much of anything. He seemed really freaked out, and honestly . . . I felt kind of bad for him."

Caroline grabbed her school bag and then walked past Damon and then past Rebecca.

Rebecca had been paying attention, but she'd also been playing with Chelsea. The girl was at the stage in her development that made her want to get up and run; she didn't want to be held much anymore. At that point, Rebecca didn't mind because it kept the girl from focusing on the conversation Damon and Caroline were having.

"He's gotta know something," Damon said.

"A'right, well, I'll ask him," Caroline agreed.

Rebecca saw Damon rush toward Caroline, and noticed the blond flinch when he grabbed her by the collar of her jacket.

"No, you won't, Caroline," Damon seethed. Rebecca moved toward him, ready to intervene. "He cannot know about us. A bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire, so don't be his friend. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," Caroline said. There was fear in her voice and Rebecca knew she'd probably been reminded of the many times Damon had used her when she'd been human.

"Damon, let her go," Rebecca said. "You don't get to treat her like that."

Rebecca realized that since Damon had called Caroline by her name and not by Blondie that he was serious and concerned about her welfare, but he could've been more graceful about it. Aside from that, Rebecca was reminded of how much of a bad friend she'd been when Damon had first come to town. She'd allowed Damon to pretty much do whatever he'd wanted to Caroline. She hadn't cared that Caroline had been a snack food or that she'd been pushed around and semi-abused.

Granted, Rebecca hadn't really known that he'd been that bad with her until they'd found Caroline out on the Lockwood property at the Founder's party, but still . . . she'd known about the feeding and the compelling and she hadn't done anything until weeks later. She still felt guilty about that, especially now that Rebecca was realizing what a special girl Caroline was. She and Caroline had a lot in common, actually.

"I'm late for school," Caroline said softly.

"Right." Damon let her go, but not before patting her gently on the shoulder a few times. "If you wanna drop a hint to your mom that Aimee's body is at the bottom of the ravine with a cracked spine, might save your mom some time."

Damon grinned and went to open the door for Caroline, who was looking at Rebecca strangely. "How d'you put up with his mood swings?"

It had been a rhetorical question and the blonde walked away without an answer. Rebecca grinned though because she'd seen the fear slip from her friend's face – her expression had been one of exasperation when she'd turned to walk out the door.  
\----------  
At the school, most of the students were going by the vigils that had been set up for Sarah and Aimee. No, Aimee's body hadn't been found and everyone only considered her missing, but this being Mystic Falls, no one expected her to turn up.

Of course, Jeremy Gilbert knew what had really happened to both Sarah and Aimee, and he wasn't worried about them anyway. He was looking for Stefan and Elena. Stefan was at his locker when Jeremy spotted him, but his sister was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Jeremy."

"Hey. Look, Elena's gotta let me know if I'm supposed to cover for her. I mean, Jenna's cool with the two of you, but you guys are pushin' it."

"What're you talkin' about?"

"You and Elena. Look, I'm glad you guys are back together, but if she's gonna sleep over you've gotta –"

"Whoa, hold on a minute. We're not . . . back together."

"Wait. She didn't – she didn't stay at your place last night?"

Jeremy had checked Elena's room that morning; his sister hadn't been home. Her bed hadn't been slept in.

"No," Stefan said. "I mean, I saw her at the party, but that was it. She didn't sleep over."

"Because her bed hadn't been slept it. And Mrs. Lockwood said her car was still in the driveway. Where is she, then?"

Jeremy cursed himself for not checking on Elena when he'd gotten home the night before. But she'd told him on the phone that she'd planned on going straight to bed, so he hadn't wanted to bother her.  
\----------  
Elena was being carried by someone – a male someone. He wasn't Stefan or Damon, either. She knew that much. She didn't know where she was and she didn't know who she was with, but she knew she was tied up. Her wrists were bound tightly, but not tight enough to cut off her circulation.

Whoever was carrying her deposited her on a couch and she saw him take off a hat and sunglasses she hadn't even known he'd been wearing. She didn't know this man, what did he want with her? He took off a jacket and sat beside her.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Shh," he shushed.

He began to undo her bonds and she whimpered when she moved the wrong way.

"Please, I'm hurt."

"I know," he said. He moved closer and Elena saw the veins pop out under his eyes. His canines elongated and he said, "Just a taste."

"No!" Elena screamed but it did no good.

He touched her neck with his teeth and she waited for the pain to come. Getting bitten didn't feel good; she knew that from experience.

Suddenly another voice came from behind the man. It was a female voice. "Trevor! Control yourself."

The woman's voice held admonishment and the guy looked ashamed. He got up and sauntered away from Elena and toward the woman.

"Buzz kill," he said.

"What d'you want with me?" Elena asked weakly. It wasn't just the blood loss – someone had chloroformed her at the Masquerade Ball. She remembered that much because it had happened right after she'd gotten off the phone with Jeremy.

"You look just like her," the woman said.

The woman had short brown hair, a fair complexion, and pretty green eyes. The woman thought Elena was Katherine, though, and yet again being that evil wench's doppelganger was getting Elena in trouble.

"But I'm not. Please, whatever you –"

"Be quiet," she snapped. Elena noticed she had a British accent.

"But I'm not Katherine," Elena said. She sat up, glad she was finally getting her sea legs back. "My name is Elena Gilbert. You don't have to do this."

"I know who you are. I said be quiet."

"What d'you want?"

Elena didn't find out because the woman back-handed her with enough force to knock her out.  
\----------  
Rebecca just couldn't get away from school, it seemed. Stefan had called her saying that Elena was missing. She, Damon, and Chelsea were now out front near the parking lot. There were picnic tables near where they were and Chelsea seemed to like playing underneath them.

"This has Katherine written all over it," Stefan said.

"Katherine's in the tomb. Trust me, I'm the one that shut her in," Damon said.

"Did you?"

"Did I what, Stefan?"

Rebecca knew what Stefan was accusing Damon of. "She in there. I watched her get sealed in."

"But she did say something to me right before I shut her in," Damon said softly, almost guiltily. "I thought she was lying."

"What did she say?" Stefan asked impatiently.

"That Elena was in danger," Rebecca said.

"What? And you didn't think you should ask her to elaborate.

"Everything she says is a lie!" Damon exclaimed. "How was I supposed to know she's gonna start spouting out the truth?"

"We have to go talk to her," Stefan said.

"No, no, no. Let me tell you how that's gonna go," Damon said. "We're gonna go ask her for help. She's gonna negotiate a release. Which you're gonna be dumb enough to give her. Then she's gonna get out and kill us."

"It's exactly what she wants," Rebecca said.

"I don't really care," Stefan said as he began to walk away.

"It's a bad idea, Stefan."

"It's Elena," he said simply. "You would do it for Rebecca, or Chelsea, and she would do it for you."

Rebecca couldn't deny that. If Damon had been in danger, she'd do almost anything to keep him from getting hurt, and she'd do anything to get him back.  
\----------  
Caroline was standing in front of Sarah's vigil when Tyler came up to her. He looked vaguely uncomfortable, but at least he had come to her.

"Hey," she said. "How're you doing?"

"Not good."

"How's your mom? My mom said that she was pretty freaked out about everything that happened with Sarah."

Caroline really didn't know what else to talk about since they were on school grounds; they couldn't talk about anything supernatural.

"How did you know?" Tyler asked. "About me? How did you know?"

"Know what? That you were upset? I thought I was doing a good thing by covering for you."

"That's not what I'm talkin' about," Tyler said.

"Look, it was an accident, okay? And I've gotta run; just please don't blame yourself."

Caroline walked away with Damon's words etched in her mind. She couldn't become friends with Tyler. He could kill her with just one bite. She needed to stay away from him.  
\----------  
Elena awoke hearing a back and forth conversation between Trevor and whoever the woman was.

"So you called him?" That was Trevor.

"No, I called one of his contacts. You know how this works."

"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?"

"They say he got it."

Elena sat up when she realized that neither vampire was in the room with her, but they were right outside in the hallway.

"Wonderful. And what?" Trevor asked.

"So that's it, Trevor. He either got it or he didn't. We just have to wait."

"Look. It's not too late. We can leave her here. We don't have to go through with this."

Trevor seemed to be frightened. Who was this Elijah? Why was a vampire afraid of him? And what did he want with her?

"I'm sick of running," the woman said.

"Yeah? Well, running keeps us from dying."

"Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free."

Elena had made it to the doorway silently, but once she'd stepped foot into the hallway she stepped on a creaky floorboard and announced her presence.

"You," the woman said. "There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"

"Who's Elijah?"

"He's your worst nightmare."  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon had gone to Ric's classroom and he'd been nice enough to move his first class to the library. They were able to have their meeting in the history room. They'd texted Bonnie and Jeremy and Stefan. Everyone had congregated there, but now they only had a short time to get everything done. Stefan seemed impatient, but he was willing to give Bonnie a chance before relying on Katherine.

"I can't undo the tomb spell, Stefan," Bonnie said when he'd told her of his second plan. "Even if I wanted to, it took me and my grams to do it the first time."

"Right, but I can open the door, though, right? I could talk to her?" Stefan asked. He had brought up the fact that Katherine would probably want to get out if she were to help them with the Elena situation.

"Yeah, but Damon's right. She's not gonna tell you anything, not without something in return."

"Finally, the little witch and I agree on something," Damon quipped. Rebecca smiled but hit him on the arm, too. This was serious and they shouldn't be making sarcastic comments. Elena was missing and could possibly be dead, but they had to believe she wasn't so they would work faster and twice as hard to find her.

"I have to do something," Stefan said. "I have no idea who has Elena. I have no idea where she is."

"What about scrying?" Rebecca asked. "Or maybe a location spell. Like the one that Miss Sheila did when you and Elena were kidnapped."

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know how to scry yet, but I can do a location spell. I'll need some candles, a map, a knife, and Jeremy's blood."

"How does that work?" Jeremy asked.

Rebecca watched Damon go pull a map of Virginia and the surrounding states off the wall, near the blackboard.

"I'll use your blood to draw the energy for the tracking spell," Bonnie explained. "You're blood related, so it'll make the connection stronger."

Stefan went to talk to Alaric to see if he could get weapons from him. Yes, Ric kept them at the school too. It seemed like a valid lifestyle choice since there were two vampires in the school, and now one werewolf.

Rebecca knew they didn't have much time left, so when Damon brought the map over she helped set everything up. Bonnie had brought candles with her, so Rebecca assumed that meant that Bonnie always came prepared no matter where she went. Since they lived in Mystic Falls, Rebecca couldn't say she blamed her.

"Are you ready?" Bonnie asked Jeremy. "I – I don't have a knife."

"How much blood do you need?" Rebecca asked.

"Just a few drops."

Rebecca grabbed Jeremy's arm and brought his palm to her mouth. She glanced at him for the go-ahead and he nodded. She wouldn't have done it if he hadn't been okay with it, but he was so she slid his hand over one of her canine teeth and made a deep enough cut to get the blood Bonnie needed for the spell.

"Hey!" she heard Bonnie exclaim. "Don't do that!"

"Relax, Judge-y," Damon said.

Rebecca let Jeremy's hand go and the blood fell onto the map. The blood drops formed a puddle over the words "Mystic Falls" on the map and then the puddle began moving. Bonnie didn't have a sound coming out of her mouth, but her lips were moving so Rebecca assumed that meant Bonnie was performing the spell. Bonnie must have been practicing how to do spells silently.

The blood went past Lynchburg and Roanoke, past Christiansburg, and Martinsville, and landed on Eden, Virginia. It was near Highway 58.

"There," Bonnie said, pointing. "She's there."

"That's three hundred miles away."

"Can we narrow that down?" Rebecca asked. "We need an exact location."

"That's as close as I can get. We don't have a map of the town, so . . . this is as exact as it gets."

"We can map it. Aerial view. It'll show up what's around there, help us narrow down the area," Jeremy said.

"Perfect," Damon said. "Call us with whatever you find."

"No, I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," Rebecca said. "My blood is still in your system. I don't want anything happening to you."

"I'm not gonna just sit here. What if she's hurt, or worse? What if she –"

Suddenly Rebecca grabbed her head, and it was just a good thing that she hadn't been holding Chelsea because she either would've dropped her or squeezed her hard enough to hurt; her head was killing her. What was happening? It felt almost like the pain she'd experienced when that device had gone off on Founder's Day.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy yelled. "Stop!"

Chelsea was now screaming along with Rebecca, and Rebecca knew that Chelsea was probably either feeling some of the pain she herself was feeling, or she was feeling the emotions Rebecca was experiencing because of the pain. Either way, this was too big for the girl to handle and so she had to cry.

"Why is her blood in your system?"

As Jeremy explained that Rebecca had been seriously hurt the night before, the pain went away, and Rebecca felt her face change out of anger – Bonnie couldn't just give people aneurisms every time she wanted to. Bonnie thought she was so much better than them because she respected human life, but didn't she see that she lashed out whenever she was angry too?

Rebecca looked to Damon, who looked like he would've attacked Bonnie himself if he hadn't had to take care of Chelsea.

"Shouldn't we be focusing on Elena?" Rebecca asked, getting her anger under control. "Elena is probably fine, okay? I mean, this is just another day at the office for her, but we still need to find her."

"Jeremy, you and Bonnie go home. We'll call the minute we find her."

"Besides," Damon said. "We need someone to baby-sit. We can't go on a rescue mission with a fifteen-month-old."

Oh, yeah. Rebecca hadn't even thought about leaving Chelsea with anyone. She rolled her eyes at herself because she couldn't have seriously been thinking of taking her little sister with them to find Elena, who could be in serious danger.  
\----------  
"No!" was Chelsea's response when Rebecca handed her over to Jeremy. The young girl was holding onto Rebecca's hair and wasn't letting go.

"Chels, come on, babe. We have to go."

"No!"

The girl was about two seconds away from bursting into tears. Rebecca felt really bad for having to leave her baby sister. Aside from now, Chelsea had never acted this way before when Rebecca had to leave her with someone else. Chelsea had been around all of Rebecca's friends enough to know they were also her caretakers.

"She can probably feel the seriousness of the situation," Bonnie said. "If she really is an empath, she'll feel everything. She just won't understand because of how young she is. She'll be fine after you guys leave. We'll take her mind off of it. You guys just bring Elena back."

"We will," Rebecca said. And because something had to be said about what had happened earlier, Rebecca continued. "Oh, and Bonnie? Next time you want to give someone an aneurism . . . make sure Chelsea's nowhere nearby."

Yes, there was an implied threat in there somewhere.

Stefan had texted Damon earlier to tell him that Alaric's weapons were in the closet in the classroom – the closet was supposed to be used for maps and extra textbooks and even a television stand, but since this was Mystic Falls and this was also Alaric Saltzman's classroom there were stakes and other weapons in there instead.

Damon used Alaric's gym bag, which was also in the closet – Rebecca guessed Ric used the school gym on a regular basis so he could stay in shape.

After everything they needed was packed up in the bag, Rebecca and Damon walked out to go to Damon's car; Stefan was going to meet them there.  
\----------  
Outside near the big parking lot, Tyler was with his friends on the basketball court. He'd realized he'd had to hold himself back while he'd been playing because if he hadn't, he would've hurt someone, or maybe would've busted the ball open.

He'd had a lot on his mind what with all that had happened at the masquerade ball. Not to mention, he still didn't know how Caroline had known about him. Mason wouldn't have told anyone about their family secret, and Tyler definitely hadn't been talking about it to anyone. He had barely believed it himself so he hadn't wanted to advertise something so surreal.

But Caroline had known about him anyway. Unless she was a werewolf, too, then she shouldn't have known anything. Maybe Jeremy Gilbert had told people what he'd said? But Tyler didn't think Jeremy would do that.

For all of the little Gilbert's faults, disloyalty wasn't one of them.

Tyler slam dunked the basketball and his friends cheered him on. After putting the ball in the hoop, he saw Caroline walking out of the school with her phone in her hand. She was texting someone.

Tyler passed the ball to one of the guys he'd been playing with and took off toward the blond. She'd already made it to the school parking lot where the buses were kept when they weren't being used.

"Hey," Caroline said. "Um, are you okay?"

"You lied to me earlier. Why?"

Caroline briefly glanced away before speaking. Why couldn't she just look him in the eye and say what she wanted to say?

"Look, Tyler, I think that you misunderstood me at the party. I get it. It was very traumatic."

"You're lying." He could tell because Caroline was trying to brush everything off. Caroline Forbes didn't know how to brush things off. And it felt like she was trying to push him away. Why would she go out of her way to help him and then try to avoid talking to him at all unless she was afraid to talk about it?

"Nope. But I'm late."

"Hey." Tyler grabbed her wrist and she stopped. She didn't want to be grabbed apparently, because she twisted his arm to the point where he almost fell to his knees from the pain. When he began to struggle she did push him down. His knees hit the asphalt and he scrambled away from her.

"How did you . . . ?" Tyler walked back to her when he got back on his feet. "You're stronger than me?"

"Please, that was nothing. My mom is the sheriff – she's taught me a few things."

"Listen, if you know something, you gotta tell me."

He was desperate. With Mason gone, Tyler had no one to talk to and no one to ask his questions to.

"I can't handle this," he said vulnerably.

If Caroline was like him, which appeared to be the case since she was stronger than him, at least he wouldn't be alone.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. But I think that you're still in shock over Sarah dying, and it's understandable."

Apparently he was not going to get any help from Caroline so he stalked off. He took his anger out on a nearby trash can and kicked it. The thing went flying across the parking lot and it hit one of the cars.

Tyler kept going even as the car alarm sounded.  
\----------  
"Alaric sure likes his weapons," Damon said.

They – he, Stefan, and Rebecca – had been on the road for about an hour now. Damon was driving, Stefan was in the passenger seat and Rebecca was in the back. He didn't particularly like the seating arrangement, but . . . Rebecca had opted to sit in the back, so . . .

"What is that?" Damon asked Stefan, who was playing with what looked like a hand grenade – only the thing was clear and had liquid in it.

"It's a vervain bomb or a grenade launcher or something like that."

"Weird."

"Hey, who do you think took her?" Stefan asked.

"Someone from Katherine's past. She said she was running from someone. Maybe they got the wrong girl."

Stefan put the grenade down and Damon felt when his brother looked at him.

"Thank you for helping me."

"Can we not do the whole road-trip bonding thing? Cliché of it all makes me itch."

"I happen to like road-trip bonding."

"Keep it up, Stefan. I can step out of helping just as easily as I stepped in."

"Nope," Stefan said. "That's the beauty of it. You can't."

Damon rolled his eyes. What his brother had said was true. Elena was his friend. Granted, they had a very rocky friendship, but still . . . he couldn't just let it be. He knew she'd been kidnapped, could possibly be hurt, and he wasn't going to let Stefan or Rebecca go alone. Stefan didn't drink human blood, and Damon couldn't depend on Stefan to keep Rebecca safe. Stefan would understandably be focused on Elena; he couldn't protect both girls.

In the backseat, Rebecca was texting Jeremy just to make sure Chelsea was okay. She'd hated the fact that she'd had to leave and Chelsea hadn't wanted her to go. If she'd been able to sense that Rebecca was going and doing something potentially dangerous, Chelsea had probably felt afraid.

Chelsea could feel adult emotions, but she was a baby; she'd have no way of dealing with them.

Chelsea's fine. She stopped crying a few minutes after you guys left. – J

Her phone buzzed seconds later. Jeremy was calling.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Alaric just left with Jenna," he said. "He's getting her out of the house for a while so she doesn't ask questions about Elena."

"Didn't he have to work?"

"He faked being sick. Jenna thought it was cute. She thinks he did it just to spend time with her." He coughed a little. "Anyway, I pulled something up based on the spot Bonnie found on the map. There's this big stretch of land with nothing on it for miles around. Could be something."

"Yes, good. Send it to one of us."

"Becca, I hate sitting here waiting like this. Bonnie said she might be able to get Elena a message. Um, another spell."

"Long distance magic? Tell her to be careful."

Rebecca wasn't Bonnie's biggest fan, but she didn't want Bonnie getting hurt either.  
\----------  
"Why am I here?" Elena asked the woman who had helped plan her kidnapping.

"You keep asking me these questions like I'm going to answer them."

Elena had followed the woman into one of the many rooms of the house and saw that she was turning on the lights.

Elena realized she was in a library type room. There were books everywhere – on shelves and on the floor.

"Why won't you?"

"That's another one."

The windows that lined the wall were boarded up and Elena noticed that this woman was staying out of direct sunlight. She didn't have a daylight ring then, and would burn if she made contact with the light outside.

"You've got me. Okay? It's not like I can go anywhere. The least you can do is tell me what you want with me."

"I personally want nothing. I'm just a delivery service."

"Delivery to who? Elijah?"

The woman laughed. "Two points for the eavesdropper."

"Who is he? Is he a vampire?" Elena asked.

"He's one of the vampires. The Originals."

"What d'you mean the Originals?"

"Again with the questions. Haven't the Salvatore's been teaching you vampire history?"

"So you know Stefan and Damon?"

"I know of them. A hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan. She said he was one of the good ones. More of a sucker for the bad boys, though, but I digress."

"Who are the Originals?"

The woman looked at her now. "Trevor and I have been running for five hundred years. We're tired. We want it over. We're using you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."

Elena knew that didn't answer her question, but she had a new one now, anyway. "But why me?"

"Because you're a Petrova doppelgänger. You're the key to breaking the curse."

"Curse? The sun and the moon curse?" What did that have to do with her? What did that have to do with a human, period? She thought that only dealt with vampires and werewolves.

"Oh, you do know your history."

"What d'you mean, I'm the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse."

"No. The moonstone is what binds the curse. The sacrifice is what breaks it."

"Sacrifice?" Elena did not like the sound of that. Sacrifices never meant anything good, ever. To sacrifice meant to give up something. Life, blood, time – something one could never get back once it was gone.

"The blood of the doppelganger. You're the doppelganger, which means in order to break the curse, you're the one who has to die."

She would have to die? The whole curse was about making vampires burn in the sun and keeping werewolves from turning unless there was a full moon. She wouldn't let herself die for that.

That was a stupid reason to die.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Caroline was just getting home from school. She could tell something was off as soon as she stepped inside her house. There was a presence there that usually wasn't.

"Mom?"

Caroline put her bag on the floor and dropped her keys beside it.

"Mom?"

She calmly took in a breath and then knew who it was. Tyler. Everyone had their own certain, unique smell, and she'd been around his enough to know that it was him. Had he really broken into her house? What was he trying to prove?

"Hello, Caroline," he said from behind her.

Feigning surprise, she spun around quickly. "What're you doing here? Breaking and entering the sheriff's house? That move will win you an award."

"Go ahead. Keep dodging. Keep changing the subject."

Tyler began circling her like she was his prey and it took every ounce of Caroline's willpower to stand still. The predator inside of her was telling her to attack before he did.

"But I know," Tyler said. "You're just like me, aren't you?"

"No," she said honestly.

"Keep it up, but I'm not buying it. I saw how strong you were. I'm not leavin' here until you tell me the truth. You're a werewolf."

"Tyler . . ." Caroline couldn't help it; she tried to hold it in, but she couldn't. She giggled.

It was rude and inappropriate, but she couldn't stop herself. She even put a hand over her mouth, but all it did was smother the sound.

"What?" she asked.

She was so not a werewolf. He was so far from the truth that she couldn't believe he had come up with that.

"Stop lying!" Tyler snapped, pushing her against the wall.

"I'm not lying," she said, laughter forgotten. Tyler was really angry.

"Just say it!"

Tyler hit the wall and a painting fell down. The sound of glass shattering reverberated around the room. Caroline couldn't take anymore. Tyler could not come into her house and accuse her of things, push her around, and start breaking things.

Caroline spun them around and held Tyler against the wall. She let her canines elongate and she felt the tightness under her eyes where the veins were protruding. She growled at Tyler for all the frustration he'd caused her.

The fear on his face registered and she shoved him away so she could get her face back to normal.

"I'm not a werewolf, okay?" she said.

She hadn't meant to snap like that, but he'd shoved her and she hadn't been able to help it. She had reacted on instinct.

She suddenly realized this meant that Tyler now knew what she was – or at least had some idea that there were other things besides werewolves out there. He was going to ask questions now, something that Damon hadn't wanted. That was why he had told her to stay away from him.

She couldn't let Damon find out Tyler knew; Damon would kill him without even thinking.  
\----------  
Meanwhile, Elena was trying her hardest to get as much information out of her captors as possible. Well, captor. Elena didn't know where Trevor had gone and she didn't really care. He had tried to bite her earlier.

"Tell me more."

"Captivity's made her pushy, eh?"

Oh, there he was. Right behind her.

"What d'you want to know, doppelicious?"

"What are you running from?"

"The Originals."

"Yeah, she said that. What does that mean?"

"The first family. The Old World. Rose and I pissed them off."

"Mm-mm," Rose said, glaring at Trevor.

"Correction. I pissed them off. Rose had my back, and for over half a millennium they've wanted us dead."

Elena watched Trevor walk around kicking books all over the place. Elena had to fight the need to tell him he was being disrespectful. He probably didn't care anyway.

"What did you do?"

"He made the same mistake countless others did. He trusted Katerina Petrova," Rose said.

Elena could see the sympathy that Rose held for Trevor. Trevor had apparently fallen for Katherine's charms and was now paying the price for it, had been paying it for the last five hundred years.

"The first Petrova doppelganger."

"I helped her escape her fate, and now I've – we've – been marked ever since."

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again," Rose said.

Katherine! She was always ruining everything. People's lives were not play things. What was wrong with her? She couldn't just do whatever she wanted and to hell with everyone else.

Elena hated her look-alike, and Elena had never hated anyone before. She'd disliked people, sure, but the hate she felt for Katherine was like a volcano that was just waiting to explode.  
\----------  
At the Gilbert residence, Jeremy was bringing Bonnie a glass of water. She'd passed out from the spell that hopefully sent the message to Elena. Jeremy didn't know. Bonnie had been chanting and then the message had caught on fire and had disappeared. Bonnie's nose had started bleeding and when the spell had been completed, she had passed out.

Jeremy had freaked out because he hadn't been able to wake her up; Chelsea freaked out because he had freaked out. He'd had a passed out witch and a crying baby to contend with.

Jeremy handed Bonnie the glass of water. He was so glad she'd woken up on her own.

"What happened? You scared me," he said.

"It's nothing."

Bonnie had Chelsea on her lap. Actually, the little girl hadn't left Bonnie's side since she'd passed out.

"No, it wasn't nothing, Bonnie," Jeremy said.

"Bon! Bon! Bon!" Chelsea said.

"I've been doing a lot of magic lately. It wears me down."

"When I'm worn down, I take a nap. You were – you were unconscious."

"Witchcraft has its limits. If I push too hard, it pushes back."

"How do you know all this?"

"It's all in here," Bonnie said, looking at the Grimiore. "It's like a reminder that I'm not invincible. Please don't . . . don't tell anyone. It's a weakness and I don't want certain people to know that."

"By certain people, you mean Damon."

"I mean anyone that could hurt me."

Jeremy didn't know Damon well enough to say that the vampire wouldn't hurt Bonnie. Damon was impulsive and would hurt people if he was in the mood for violence. Well, anyone that wasn't Chelsea or Rebecca.

"It's hard, ya know? Grams is gone, and my dad . . . he doesn't wanna know about what I am. He hasn't since my mom left. I'm all alone in this."

"That's how I feel a lot of the time. Alone."

Jeremy hadn't known that anyone he knew could relate to him in that way. He just hadn't been able to connect with anyone since his parents had died. There had been Vicki, of course, but that hadn't been a healthy relationship. Then there had been Anna – he still missed her.

Rebecca was there for him when she could be and he didn't feel alone with her around, but she had so many other people seeking attention from her that he didn't get to spend as much time with her as he would like to.

At home he had an aunt whom he loved and who loved him, but he didn't really have anything in common with her. He had a sister, but she was always focused on her love life and he didn't really have anyone else.

Now he was beginning to really like Bonnie; maybe they could be there for each other when no one else was.  
\----------  
"We're getting close. Jeremy said there's an access road just past mile marker six," Stefan said.

Damon reached behind the seat and grabbed for the cooler he'd been smart enough to bring with them.

"Little help would be nice, Becca," he quipped.

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

Rebecca saw the small red cooler with the white top and lifted the lid. She took out two blood bags – one for Damon, and one for herself. She put a tube in both and handed one to Damon, who began sucking.

Stefan looked at it with a look that Rebecca didn't like.

"If you want some just ask."

"I want some."

"Aw that's so sweet. You wanna be all big and strong and save your girl. Don't worry. I've got your back. You'll be fine."

"I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little every day," Stefan said. "Been slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength."

"Hm."

Damon handed over the blood bag and watched as Stefan took a sip. Rebecca was watching, too, because she hadn't actually expected Stefan to be able to sip from the blood bag.

"Elena know you're drinking blood?" Damon asked.

Stefan took a few more sips and then looked at Damon.

"I've been drinking hers," he said gently.

"Hm. How romantic. Well, since we're road-trip bonding, remember the days when all you lived for was blood? You were the guy who would rip someone apart just for the fun of it."

"You mean when I was more like you?"

"Yes, Stefan, exactly. Back when you put blood into me so I could be a big, bad vampire. I wonder if Elena would be so quick to open her veins to that guy?"

"Nope," Rebecca answered. "And you just missed the access road. We passed it like five seconds ago."

"By the way, what happened to that guy?" Damon asked, stopping the car and turning around. "He was a hoot."

"Guess he found something else to live for. Like someone else in this car that shall remain nameless."  
\----------  
Elena had received the message Bonnie had been trying to get to her, but it wasn't doing her any good. Elijah was there; Trevor had announced his presence.

"He's here. This was a mistake."

"No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me."

"No! He wants me dead, Rose."

"He wants her more," Rose said, pointing to Elena.

"I can't do this. You give her to him; he'll have mercy on you. But I need to get out of here."

Trevor was actually afraid – desperately afraid - of this Elijah person. Elena hadn't been terribly frightened until that moment. If these two powerful vampires were afraid of Elijah, whoever that was, then how evil did this guy have to be?

"Hey!" Rose exclaimed, grabbing Trevor's arms gently. "What are we?"

"We're family," Trevor said, nodding and calming down. "Forever."

"You're scared," Elena said out loud just as she heard a knock coming from the front of the house.

"Stay here with her," Rose said. "And don't make a sound."

After Rose left the room, Elena paced for about three minutes and then Rose came back with a man that Elena assumed was Elijah. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and he was wearing all black. He was maybe a head taller than she was.

He only stared at her but then he ran to her, stopping right in front of her. Elena was terrified, and she began shaking when he lowered his head to her neck. She was surprised but also relieved when all he did was sniff.

"Human," he said. "It's impossible."

She realized that this man, this Elijah, was probably dangerous, but he didn't seem threatening. He was even refined. He sounded like a gentleman – like he belonged in times long past.

"We have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going. One last piece of business. Then we're done."

Elijah went toward Trevor, who had been silently waiting his turn.

"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly very sorry."

"Oh, no, your apology is not necessary."

"Yes. Yes, it is. You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you."

"Well, yes, you are the guilty one. And Rose aided you because she was loyal to you. Now, that I honor. Where was your loyalty?"

Elena could tell from Elijah's tone that he was taunting Trevor, playing with him.

"I beg your forgiveness."

"So granted," Elijah said.

Trevor sighed with relief and smiled a little. The relief didn't last long because Elijah literally chopped Trevor's head off with his arm. Both Elena and Rose screamed.

"You –" Rose yelled.

"Don't, Rose. Now that you're free." Elena saw Elijah reach out his hand to her. Then he said, "Come."

"No, what about the moonstone?" She said desperately. She needed to buy time in case someone actually was coming for her.

"What d'you know about the moonstone?"

"I know that you need it, and I know where it is. I can help you get it."

"Tell me where it is."

"It doesn't work that way."

Elijah looked amused; she could've sworn he almost laughed.

"Are you negotiating with me?

He looked at Rose, who was red-eyed from crying.

"It's the first I've heard of it."

Elena was grabbed by the chin and forced to look into Elijah's dark eyes. He must've noticed, however, that she didn't keep direct eye contact because he said, "What is this vervain doing around your neck?"

He gripped Elena's vervain necklace and pulled so the clasp would break. He flung it across the room and grabbed Elena by the back of her head. This time Elena wasn't able to look away from his eyes.  
\----------  
"House should be just beyond those trees. Now I've got a little more experience than you do with this sort of thing."

Damon and Stefan had just gotten out of the car and Stefan had grabbed the weapons bag he'd borrowed from Ric.

"So, what's your point?" Stefan asked.

"My point is whoever has Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that. And it puts them at 500 years old and strong. You sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah, I'm certain I wanna do it."

"Because we go in that house, we may not come back out."

"A'right, then I won't come out. I can't think of a better reason to die."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "No one's gonna die. I'm a turbo vampire. I've got your backs."

With that said, Rebecca led the way. At the house – an old Victorian style mansion – they had to bust in through a boarded up window. They had wanted to announce their presence anyway. Well, they'd wanted Elena's captors to know someone was there who shouldn't be.

Rebecca saw from her hiding place under the first set of stairs that Elena had a woman and a man with her.

"Rose?" the man said.

"I don't know who it is."

Damon was on one side of the stairs and Rebecca was on the other; Stefan was upstairs. They had made sure the two people holding Elena had only seen two blurs. Rebecca was the secret weapon.

"Up here," Stefan said, after which there was a small whirring noise as the man ran upstairs.

"Down here," Damon said.

The man slowly walked down the stairs and spoke. "Excuse me. To whom it may concern . . . you're making a grave mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't. You hear that? I repeat, you cannot beat me. I want the girl on the count of three or heads will roll."

There was a great cracking sound and then six other smaller clicks. Rebecca didn't know what was happening except that Stefan had Elena now, upstairs with him, and Rose was with Damon. He had a hand over her mouth.

"Do we understand each other?"

Rebecca came out from her hiding spot with a stake in her hand.

"No. We really don't," she said.

She rushed at him and would've been successful in staking him had he not caught her wrist. He had a coat rack with a sharp end on it – that was probably the crack she'd heard earlier.

"Rebecca Stone," the vampire said. "I remember you."

"What?"

"You were human when we met, of course."

Again, what?

"You were also much more agreeable."

No, he had to be trying to distract her, and it was working.

He grabbed the stake from her hand and dropped the coat hanger in the process. He didn't try to hurt her, however, which she didn't understand but was grateful for.

"You'll remember how we met soon. I compelled you to forget until we met again, and here we are. How many are here?"

Rebecca closed her mouth and refused to say. Before the man could do anything to her, a series of bangs filtered the air. Stefan had the stake gun and was using it on this vampire, but it didn't seem to faze him. The man didn't even flinch when one of the stakes actually got stuck into his hand.

Rebecca wondered if this guy felt pain because he didn't act like it. He didn't make a sound when he was stabbed in the shoulder – twice.

Eventually Stefan realized that the stakes weren't doing a bit of good, so he just tackled the man instead. This man, though, was older and faster than Stefan. He got up quicker. He would've gone after Stefan if Damon hadn't appeared with the coat rack the man had dropped earlier.

Damon stabbed the man in the heart and shoved him backwards into the wall. The man grayed and his head dropped low.

Damon hadn't had a choice. This man had been the reason Elena had been kidnapped, had been about to attack Stefan, and knew Rebecca. How, Damon didn't know, because even Rebecca didn't know. Supposedly she'd been compelled.

Damon noticed that Rose was gone now. The threat was gone, so she had taken off.

Stefan was okay; he'd picked himself up off the floor. Rebecca hadn't been hurt, though she did seem confused, understandably. Elena was making her way down the stairs.

"Hey, come here," Stefan said. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?"

Elena sped up and basically jumped into Stefan's arms. The relief she was feeling was palpable. Damon could feel it coming from her in waves. When she looked at him he saw her mouth "Thank you." He mouthed "You're welcome," back.

"What about that girl? Rose, was it?" Rebecca asked.

"Just let her go," Elena said. "She was running from Elijah – and –"

Damon didn't find out what else Elena was going to say because Rebecca grabbed her head all of a sudden and gasped.

"Becca?" He went to her side. "What's happening?"

"I'm . . . I'm remembering."  
\----------  
Mystic Falls, 1864

Rebecca was on one of her countless patrols that she'd taken to doing since Damon had decided to spend his time with Katherine Pierce. There had been a few animal attacks and one person had even turned up dead and torn apart.

She had to admit that she didn't know if that was a vampire attack. The only vampire attacks she'd been aware of from her time period had been Vicki Donovan and the two people who had died because an 'animal' had broken into their car. None of those people had been torn apart.

Rebecca was in the woods now because she'd felt something off about them, meaning a vampire was there. She didn't know if she would find one feeding or just hiding, but there was definitely one there.

She had to be careful when she walked so that she didn't make much noise. She didn't want to give herself away.

Light filtered through the trees because of the bright full moon that shone in the night sky above. She had no problem seeing what was around her. The problem was that unless she wanted to go even deeper in the forest she wasn't going to find any vampires.

As it was, she already felt as if she were being followed. Or, more precisely, she felt she was being made into a play thing; someone or something was hunting her.

Rebecca heard a soft growling, but it was different than hearing a vampire. This actually sounded like an animal. Was she being hunted by an actual animal? That was just great.

She heard the growls coming closer and she tried to keep calm. She knew there was a vampire around, but she also knew that the vampire wasn't what was hunting her. She just wasn't sure of what was. Whatever it was, she couldn't get a feel for it.

The growls turned into howls. A wolf, maybe? If there were wolves around, then maybe the vampires weren't the ones killing people.

Time seemed endless as she waited. An unusual calm had come over her. She'd accepted that she was in a do-or-die situation. She didn't want to die, so she was going to do.

A twig snapped behind her and she spun around quickly. A man with dark hair and dark eyes stood there. He had a tranquil look about him, but Rebecca could tell he was alert. He was also a vampire. He had made noise on purpose, then.

"Hello, there," he said. He seemed polite enough. "I'm Elijah. What are you doing out in the woods alone, Miss Stone?"

Rebecca balked at the fact that this Elijah knew her name.

"You really shouldn't be walking around alone. You never know what you might find."

"I – How do you know my name?"

"I've been watching you, and I may need your assistance." Elijah offered her his arm. "May I escort you out of the forest? There are other dangerous things here."

"Um . . ." She didn't know this man; she couldn't just . . . go with him.

"You have my word as a gentleman that no harm will come to you this night, Miss Stone. No harm will come to you from myself or anything else."

"Why have you been watching me?" she asked. She didn't take his hand, but she did start walking with him. She hoped she hadn't offended him, but she didn't know this man.

"You're living with the Salvatore's because you don't seem to have a family of your own here. But I'm more interested in the other woman you're living with. Katerina Petrova."

"You mean Katherine Pierce?" Rebecca halted. "What do you want with her?"

Elijah had stopped moving as well.

"There was an incident a couple of hundred years ago. She betrayed me and my family and I've been after her ever since."

"What do you want me to do?" Rebecca couldn't really hurt Katherine, not without hurting Damon and she would never intentionally do that.

"I know she's stolen Mr. Salvatore's attention, and she did it unfairly. You have no compulsion to use. But I do. If you bring her to me, lure her out somehow, I can release him from her compulsion."

Rebecca would have to think about it. She couldn't give a yes or no answer right away. She needed to know if this man was trustworthy before she agreed to anything he said.  
\----------  
Present Time, 2010

Rebecca had long since passed out and Damon had picked her up. She'd been able to sit on the stairs, but then she had slumped forward, and then Elena had told him where a sofa was. That's where he had put Rebecca.

Elena had explained everything she'd learned. Damon knew who the Originals were supposed to be, but he'd never met one until tonight. Elijah hadn't been that hard to kill, and after all Elijah's talk about not being able to be beaten . . .

Damon paid attention when Elena started talking about being a sacrifice to break the sun and the moon curse. Yes, he was worried about Rebecca, but that didn't mean he didn't care about Elena, too. People wanting to sacrifice his friends was not okay.

Damon hadn't noticed until now, but Elena's necklace had been torn off. The only reason he noticed now was because Elena was picking it up off the floor. Damon wondered who had taken the necklace off and what he or she had compelled Elena to do after she wasn't protected anymore.

"I want to go home," Elena said. "Can we just take her back to the car with us? I mean, is it okay to move her?"

Damon didn't see any reason why they couldn't move Rebecca. She hadn't hit anything hard enough to break a bone, and, even if she had, she was a vampire so she wouldn't have stayed hurt anyway.  
\----------  
Mystic Falls, 1864

Elijah had proven that he didn't want to hurt Rebecca when he'd walked her home from the woods. They hadn't talked much, but what they had talked about had been interesting.

Elijah had first met Katherine in England in the late 1400s. Katherine had originally been from Bulgaria, but fate had taken her to England where Elijah had been.

"So . . . you can take Katherine's compulsion away and he'll be the way he was? Nothing else would change, right?"

"He would be the way he was before, yes. Nothing would change."

"Where and when can I meet you so I can discuss this . . . business proposition?"

"I'll be around. Go into town alone and I'll find you."  
\----------  
Present time, 2010

When Rebecca woke up, she found she was in Damon's car. They were moving steadily – hopefully they were going home.

"Mmm . . ." she moaned and grabbed her head. The memories were coming back slowly and she didn't like what they were doing to her head space.

"Becca?" Damon's voice came from the front seat. No wonder the car was moving so fast.

"I'm okay," she said. "I'm okay."

She realized that she couldn't have possibly remembered everything. She had only just begun to remember. She had finally touched on why Katherine had been intent on killing her. Rebecca had made plans to turn Katherine over to Elijah, who seemed to have had plans on killing her.

Rebecca had no qualms about telling Stefan, Damon, and Elena about what she remembered. Elijah had kept his word; plus, she was sure he had kept her from getting attacked by a werewolf that night in 1864.

It didn't matter now because Elijah was dead, but . . .

"Why did Elijah want you, Elena?"

Elena was in the backseat with Rebecca while Stefan sat in the passenger seat in the front. Rebecca could see and smell the blood on Elena's clothing, but since she'd seen with her own eyes that the brunette was fine, it didn't worry her.

When Rebecca heard about Elena's connection to the curse of the sun and the moon, she went rigid. Elena had to be sacrificed?

"What?" Maybe she'd heard wrong.

"Rose said that my blood will break the curse – the moonstone is what binds it."

"Well, let's destroy the moonstone then," Rebecca said. "No moonstone, no curse being bound."

"There's one problem with that," Damon said. "The stone's in the tomb with Katherine. We vampires can't go in without getting stuck inside, and at least one of us is opposed to sending a human in as a bargaining tool . . ."

"Yes, I am opposed," Stefan said. "Not happening."

"Let's just go home," Rebecca said. "We can figure all of this out later. But no one is getting sacrificed."  
\----------  
"This may sound crazy, but alcohol helps," Caroline told Tyler as she came into the living room with two glasses and a bottle of brandy. She filled a glass for him and one for herself, then she put the bottle on the shelf above the fireplace.

"Or at least it helps me," she said. "You know, with all that inside jittery stuff."

Tyler nodded. " I'm hot. It's like my skin is on fire."

"Really? I never had any of that."

Caroline felt normal, for the most part. She only felt different when her urges took over, whether that meant hunger or anger. Vampires had different responses to those urges because emotions were stronger in vampires.

"Guess wolves are different," Caroline said. "At the beginning, I was very, very emotional. Everything was heightened.

"I have that," Tyler said, though Caroline thought Tyler had always been a little emotional when it came to anger anyway.

Both Caroline and Tyler took a sip of their drink.

"How can you be a vampire?" Tyler blurted out.

Caroline could tell Tyler had wanted to ask that question since he'd found out about her, but she couldn't answer him honestly. She didn't want Damon mad at her. Yes, she'd begun to forgive him, but that didn't mean he scared her any less.

"How can you be a werewolf?" she asked in turn.

Tyler stood up and placed his drink on a nearby table.

"Who else is like you?"

"Just me. It's a really long story. We can share another time." Caroline placed her drink next to Tyler's on the table. "Um . . . how many other werewolves are there?"

"Just me. And my uncle Mason, but he left town."

Caroline walked closer until she was right in front of him.

"Look, Tyler, you can't tell anyone. Okay? Not about you, not about me. No one will understand."

"I know," Tyler said honestly.

"I wanna tell you about my mom and yours and the founding families and the council, but I need you to promise me no one will find out about us. This is life and death, Tyler.

Tyler stared at her. "I have no one else to tell. I'm sorry about earlier. It's just . . . I'm alone with this. It's gonna happen to me. On the next full moon I'm gonna turn . . . and I won't be able to stop it. I'm scared."

Tyler's voice cracked on the last word and Caroline felt a tug in her heart.

"Tyler, no, it's –"

A sob broke through Tyler's hard-pressed lips and Caroline immediately threw her arms around him. She didn't know how to help him, but she could comfort him. She could be there for him.

Tyler didn't have to be alone.  
\----------  
Stefan, Damon, Rebecca, and Chelsea were now on their way back to the boardinghouse since they had dropped Elena off so she could be with Jeremy. Chelsea had been asleep at the Gilberts, but she was wide awake now that she was with Damon and Rebecca.

Rebecca had been just as relieved to get back to Chelsea as Elena had been to get back to Jeremy. She'd been worried because Chelsea had never shown signs of not wanting to be left with anyone before. Rebecca hoped it wouldn't become a habit.

"Listen, what Rose told Elena about the curse . . ." Stefan started.

"I know," Damon said. "We'll keep her safe."

"You know the only way we're gonna be able to do that is if we're not fighting each other. You've been at my throat since . . . since Rebecca died. Since I . . ."

"Since you killed me," Rebecca said for him.

"Yes, and I'm sorry, but . . . if we let them come between us, we're not gonna be able to protect Elena."

"Yes, Stefan. I've heard it all before," Damon said, turning into the long driveway that led to the boardinghouse.

"Hey, I mean it when I say I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt her. I never meant to kill her."

"Enough, Stef. It's late. No need to rehash that."

"We're all going to help, anyway," Rebecca said. "No need to grovel for it."

Someone was standing on the porch when the four rolled to a stop: Rose, the vampire that had kidnapped Elena.

Stefan and Damon approached her first because Rebecca wasn't going to get near the woman since Chelsea was present. She did, however, stay close behind them.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Rose said. "Lexi once told me that you're one of the good ones."

"You knew Lexi," Stefan said.

"Trevor was my best friend. For five hundred years, I have lived with one person. And he's gone. I don't wanna run anymore because I don't have anywhere else to run to."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't help you," Stefan said.

"I don't need your help, but I think you need mine."

"With what?" Rebecca asked. She couldn't help herself. What could they possibly need help with? The threat was gone, wasn't it?

"Elijah may be dead, but this isn't over," Rose said.

"What d'you mean it's not over?"

"The Originals . . . they'll come for her. They have to. They're doing it for him."

"Him? Who's him?"

"Klaus."

By Stefan's and Damon's reactions, Rebecca could tell Klaus was probably a very powerful vampire, but she had never heard of him.

"Who's Klaus?"


	20. Chapter Twenty

Rose had spent the better part of the night explaining who Klaus was and it wasn't a pretty story. Rebecca didn't like anything that was said about him. This man was cruel and manipulative and didn't care about anyone but himself.

Rebecca had called Elena to ask her to come over before going to school, so when Rebecca opened the door at quarter to five to find Elena on the doorstep it didn't faze her.

"Hey, Elena," she said.

"Hey. You called and it sounded important, so . . . here I am."

"Right this way," Rebecca began leading the brunette into the parlor. "Before we go in, I have to tell you . . . Rose came here last night with information, and –"

"Rose. The vampire who helped kidnap me?"

"Yes, and – oh, just come on," she said, grabbing Elena's arm and dragging her into the parlor. "Now, sit."

Rose was standing in front of the fireplace; Damon was standing behind the sofa; Stefan was sitting on the sofa; Rebecca chose to stand beside Damon, and Chelsea was sitting on the ground playing by their feet.

"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years. And I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap. But Klaus I know is real."

"Who is he?" Elena asked.

"He's one of the Originals," Damon answered. "He's a legend."

"From the first generation of vampires."

"Like Elijah," Elena assumed.

"No, Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus," Rose said. "He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

Rebecca noticed Damon rolling his eyes, but she didn't know if it was because he didn't believe Klaus was real or if it was because he wasn't scared because Elijah had been easy to dispose of and he had been an Original.

"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan explained.

"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked.

"No," Stefan said just as Rose said, "Yes."

"What they're saying is – I mean, if what she's saying is true –" Damon began.

"Which it is," Rose said.

"And you're not just saying that so we don't kill you."

"Which I'm not."

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe."

Elena nodded but didn't look convinced.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right," Stefan asked, standing up, "so no one else even knows that you exist."

"Not that you know of."

"That's not helping," Damon said.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him," Stefan said. "I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. We don't know what's real. I mean, for all we know, he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story."

"He's real! And he doesn't give up," Rose said. "If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

"A'right, we're shaking," Damon said. "You made your point."

Elena grabbed her bag and stood up.

"Where're you going?" Stefan asked.

"School. I'm walking, so if I don't start now I'll be late."

"Let me, uh, let me grab my stuff," Stefan said. "I'll go with you."

"That's okay. I know where it is."

Elena took off and Rebecca had to stop herself from following her. Elena wasn't usually mean, but what she'd said to Stefan had been bordering on Katherine-esque.

"She's in denial," Damon said.

"Shut up, Damon," Stefan said.

Damon smirked at his brother and Rebecca rolled her eyes. They may antagonize each other, but they still loved one another.

Not even a minute after Elena had walked out the door, Rebecca received a text from the brunette.

Hey, meet me at the tomb. Gonna talk to Katherine. Don't tell Stefan.  
\----------  
Jeremy had arrived at school just in time to help Bonnie pick up some of the books she'd dropped in the parking lot.

"Thanks," she said as he handed the books to her. "Where's Elena?"

"She's, um, she's actually running late today." Jeremy smiled. "What're you doin' later? You wanna hang out at the Grill, shoot some pool? Winner runs the table."

"Uh, why?"

"Why what?"

"Well, you've never asked me to play a game of pool before, so why now?"

"Uh . . .I dunno. I thought that it would be fun. Never mind."

"No. Hey, okay." Bonnie hit him on the arm and smiled. "Sure. It's just . . ."

"Just what?"

"It's just you're Elena's brother and . . ."

Jeremy chuckled. It was cute that Bonnie was making such a fuss over one game of pool.

"Sure," Bonnie continued from where she'd left off. "It's just I'm really bad at pool."

"Yeah? Yeah, I thought you might be."

Jeremy laughed and Bonnie joined in. They began walking toward the entrance of the school. There they found a young man who looked lost.

"Hey," the boy said. "Excuse me. Do you guys know which way's the office?"

"You must be new here," Jeremy said, just being friendly.

"Yeah, I am. It's kinda hard to hide it. My name's Luka."

"I'm Jeremy," he said, shaking Luka's hand. "This is Bonnie."

"Hi, Bonnie."

Luka had light brown skin, a short-cropped hair cut, and seemed friendly enough.

"Anyway, I'm actually headed in that direction. Why don't you follow me? It can get confusing."

"Okay. Thanks, man. It was nice to meet you, Bonnie!"

Jeremy led the new student away. He had an ulterior motive behind showing Luka the way. Luka had been eyeing Bonnie and he didn't want the new kid getting any ideas. He'd been in a love triangle once with Vicki; he wasn't doing it again with Bonnie. Love triangles weren't fair to anybody involved in them.  
\----------  
When Rebecca made it to the tomb she found Elena and Caroline already there. Elena had a huge brown bag with her, but Rebecca had no clue what was in it.

"Tell everyone I wasn't feeling well and I went home from school," Elena told Caroline.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. I'm a terrible liar."

"Keep Stefan busy. I don't want him knowing what I'm up to."

"I'm even worse at duplicity," Caroline exclaimed. "And you know this!"

"You managed to keep me occupied when Katherine paid Stefan a visit."

"Yeah, because she threatened me. Not that I'm saying that you should use that as a tactic. It's – Stefan is gonna see right through me."

"Caroline, as my friend, do you promise or not?" Elena asked.

"You had to break out the girlfriend code. Okay. I promise."

"Okay."

"But why don't you want Stefan to know?"

"Because he would never be okay with me doing this."

"And why am I here?" Rebecca asked. "What are we doing?"

"Katherine is the only one who knows the truth about Klaus. She's the only one who can tell me how to stop him."

"But you're asking for the truth from someone who has probably never given it," Caroline said. "Are you sure about this?"

"I can't just sit back and wait. I have to know, Caroline."

Caroline and Rebecca went forward and picked up the stone that was being used as a door, and moved it to the side. Nothing happened at first, but then there were quiet footsteps coming from inside.

A very weak and dirty Katherine appeared at the mouth of the tomb.

"Hello, Elena," Katherine said, voice scratchy.

Elena looked at Caroline and said, "I'll be okay from here. Becca's staying with me."

"Come to watch me wither away?" Katherine asked, leaning heavily on the wall of the tomb. "Good-bye, Caroline."

Caroline left and Elena put the brown bag on the ground. Rebecca sat beside it.

"Stefan know you're here?"

"I brought you some things," Elena said, obviously ignoring her question.

"You came to bribe me. What is that you want?"

"I want you to tell me about Klaus."

Elena pulled out a leather-bound book that had the last name Petrova written on it. It had to be Katherine's family history.

"Hm. You've been busy."

"I also brought you this," Elena said, pulling out a jug of blood she had brought. Rebecca wondered where she had gotten it. "In your family history, it said that the family line ended with you. Obviously that's not true."

"You thought that if you brought me some family keepsake that I'd open up?"

"No, that's what the blood is for. You don't look so good. How long before your body shuts down? Ten, twenty years? Must be painful to desiccate and mummify. I can't even imagine."

Katherine jumped toward the opening when Elena opened the jug, but was blocked by the barrier that Bonnie had helped set up. She settled down when Elena put a small amount of blood in a cup and used a stick to push the cup into the tomb. It seemed, that, for once, Elena was being cautious.

"You have the Petrova fire," Katherine complimented, then knocked the blood back as if it were a shot of liquor.

"More blood?"

"It's a long story, Klaus and I."

Elena got the cup back the same way she'd given it to Katherine: with a stick.

"Goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria. Or was thrown out. My family, your true ancestors . . . they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I'd had a baby out of wedlock. The shame."

"It was kept secret," Rebecca surmised. It hadn't been in any of the books her ex-watcher had loaned her.

"Mm-hm. My baby was given away. I was banished to England and I had to learn to adjust, so I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus. I was taken with him at first, until I found out what he was and what he wanted from me, and then I ran like hell."

"Where does Elijah fit into all this?" Rebecca asked.

"He was helping Klaus. He knew what it was Klaus wanted from me and he did nothing."

"So what did Klaus want?" Elena asked.

"Same thing that he'll want from you. He wants to break the curse."

"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelganger."

"He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body."

This Klaus character had been willing to literally destroy a human girl because of some stupid curse that would release the spell of the sun? The sun wouldn't bother vampires anymore and werewolves would continue to be ruled by the phases of the moon. But why? Vampires already had a way to walk in the sun because of the Lapis Lazuli stone.

What was the point of it all?  
\----------  
Damon was having a dilemma. He needed to get Rose alone so he could get some answers from her, but he was Chelsea-sitting. Rebecca had taken off somewhere without a word. He didn't know what was up with that. Maybe she needed space because of all the new information that was being released in her mind. What kinds of memories were being restored, anyway? She hadn't been too forthcoming with those details. It bugged him that she hadn't opened up to him about this.

She eventually would, he knew, but it still bugged him that she was waiting. He just kept imagining something horrible – like maybe Elijah had fallen for her or she had fallen for him or something like that. Had Rebecca felt for him? Elijah had seemed almost delighted when he'd met up with her at the old house Rose had been keeping Elena.

Damon stepped into the parlor and saw Rose there, crying softly on the sofa.

"A'right, Rosebud, I need some answers," he said. She stood up and wiped her eyes on her jacket sleeve. "Oh, please don't tell me you're crying because your buddy Trevor lost his head."

"Have you always been this sensitive?"

Chelsea had stayed close to Rose since she'd gotten here. Damon hoped that the girl wasn't feeling Rose's sadness. That wasn't fair for someone so young to be affected by negative emotions.

"There's a little vampire switch you can – pfft – for this very reason. Takes the emotion out of it."

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine."

"Is that a dig?"

"Just an observation," Rose said. "You're practically a husband and a father to Rebecca and Chelsea, respectively."

Instinctively he raced toward her and stopped maybe six inches away. Rose had no right to talk about Rebecca or Chelsea.

"Don't get on my bad side," he warned.

"Then show me your good side."

Damon rolled his eyes and stepped away from her. "How do I find Klaus?"

"You don't find Klaus; he finds you."

"Come on, somebody's gotta know somebody who knows where he is, right?" Damon asked, walking away to the other side of the room and taking Chelsea with him.

"Add another two hundred somebody's to that list and you're still not even close."

"Humor me." Damon was trying to work out a plan here and Rose's negative opinions weren't helping. "You got in touch with Elijah. How'd you do it?"

"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole. A guy named Slater in Richmond."

"Perfect. I'll drive."

"No. You forget, not all of us can do sun."

"Then you drive." Damon pulled out his cell phone. "Set it up quickly. I have a call to make."  
\----------  
Rebecca almost jumped when her phone rang. Every Time We Touch, by Cascada, filled the tomb and Elena looked at her. It seemed to have frightened her also. Katherine looked amused and bored at the same time.

"It's Damon," she said. "I'll go take this outside.

When she answered she got an almost annoyed, "Where are you?"

"Uh . . . with Elena. She's, um . . . we're at the tomb talking to Katherine."

"What're you doin' there?"

"Finding out about Klaus," she responded.

"How ironic. That's what I'm trying to do. I need you to come home, so you can watch Chelsea. I have to go to Richmond."

"Well, Damon, I'm in the middle of something right now. I can't really –"

"You need to come home and watch your sister."

"What do you think I'm doing?" she snapped. "I am watching out for her and you and everyone else in this town. I need to find out about this Klaus guy and Katherine's the only one who's met him."

"Well, I can't take Chelsea with me. I'm going with Rose to meet some guy she used to get in touch with Elijah. I'm not risking her life over this, Becca."

"Oh, I know that and I understand that. I just . . . I feel I need to find out about him."

"Look, you can interrogate Elena later about what Katherine says. But I'm actually trying to find out where Klaus is."

Klaus's actual location would be good to know, and Rebecca did understand where Damon was coming from. They couldn't always rely on other people to watch over Chelsea when things needed to be done.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, okay? Let me make sure Elena's gonna be okay here on her own."

"Thank you."

"Mm-hm. See you in a bit."

Rebecca went back into the tomb and saw Elena pushing blood toward Katherine again. She hoped that Elena wasn't giving Katherine too much, because if the Evil One got enough to feel comfortable then Elena wouldn't get the answers she wanted.

"What does the Petrova bloodline have to do with Klaus?" Elena asked.

"It's really tedious, but . . . the curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood," Katherine answered. "Witches are crafty with their spells. The doppelganger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once a doppelganger reappears, the curse can be broken."

"So you ran before he killed you?" Elena asked.

That was actually a good question. How had Katherine died? Who had turned her?

"Something like that,' Katherine answered. "A man named Trevor helped me escape from Klaus. I ran all night and then I came across a cabin and asked for aid. Rose, a friend of Trevor's, was there. She lived with an older woman."

"Trevor and Rose. They were vampires at the time?"

"Yes," Katherine said. "I see you've met them. I stole something."

"The moonstone," Rebecca said.

"Rose refused to help me because of it," Katherine said. "She gave me food and water, but she locked me in a room and was going to take me back to Klaus after sundown."

"Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus," Elena said. "Did she?"

"No. But not because she had a change of heart. They had brought me dinner and, with it, a knife. I stabbed myself. Rose came in at nightfall and was going to take me back, but I had lost a lot of blood. I'd have rather died than gone back to Klaus. Rose forced her blood down my throat and left me to heal. She made the mistake of leaving the rope she meant to tie me up with. With it, I made a noose . . ."

"You killed yourself?"

"Klaus needed a human doppelganger. As a vampire, I was no longer any use to him."

"But it didn't work," Elena said. "You didn't really escape. You've been running ever since."

"I underestimated his spirit for vengeance. But living out of a suitcase is better than dying so that I could have my blood spilled over some silly little rock."

Rebecca had to say she actually agreed with Katherine on that. If Elena's look of worry was anything to go by, then Elena understood too.

"What's wrong? Afraid I'm right? You don't wanna die? There's another way out."

Elena shook her head and turned away.

"I made the other choice," Katherine said.

"Rose and Trevor just spent the last five hundred years running because you used them. Trevor just got killed."

"Never thought he would've lasted that long," Katherine said carelessly.

"You don't even care that you ruined their lives," Elena said.

"I was looking out for myself, Elena," Katherine stated.

Rebecca figured that that statement was the truest thing that had ever been said by Katherine Pierce. That's all one really needed to know about her.

"I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same."

Katherine turned from them and picked up her family history book and started going through it. Rebecca kind of felt sorry for Katherine Pierce. Katherine would forever be alone if she didn't change her attitude. She would never know real love and would never have real friends.

Rebecca's phone rang again and she knew it was Damon again because of the song playing. She answered quickly and said, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Are you riding on the back of a turtle or what?" he asked, sounding annoyed. "Get here."

"Don't tell me what to do, Damon. I said I'd be there in a few minutes. The more impatient you are, the longer I'm gonna take."

"So . . . how much of your little story is true?" Elena asked Katherine, dividing Rebecca's attention between Damon and the Petrova's conversation.

"I have no reason to lie, Elena. I have no reason to do anything but sit here and read and rot."

"Okay, assuming it's even partially true, that's the reason why you came back, isn't it? Because you wanted to be the one to hand me over to Klaus."

"Five hundred years on the run, I figured maybe he'd be willing to strike a deal."

"So you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone."

"You're still at the tomb? What's so important that you couldn't come when I asked you to?" Damon asked.

"Information, hold on."

"What else is needed to break the curse? It's not just me or the stone, is it? Otherwise there would be no reason to trigger Tyler Lockwood's werewolf curse."

"Witches and their spells," Katherine said, shrugging. "So many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."

"So you need a werewolf," Rebecca surmised.

"Believe it or not, they're hard to come by."

"What else?"

"A witch to do the spell," Katherine said. "Mine bailed, but little Bonnie will do just fine. You need a vampire."

A vampire. Katherine had turned Caroline.

"Could've been anyone, I suppose, but I like the poetry of Caroline."

"So you were just gonna hand us all over to be killed?" Elena asked.

"Better you die than I," Katherine said and then turned around and walked back into the darkness of the tomb.  
\----------  
Damon had only heard a little bit of what he assumed Rebecca had been learning. He was sorry for snapping at her, but he was on edge anyway because of Rebecca keeping things from him. Now he knew Katherine had been planning on ruining a bunch of lives – lives of people he cared about.

In order to break the curse, this Klaus character needed Elena, Tyler, Bonnie, and Caroline, though Damon was sure any vampire, witch, and werewolf would do. Those were the ones Katherine had chosen, however.

Elena's blood seemed to be a big deal because she was a Petrova doppelganger. Damon knew that from what Rose had told them all that morning, but the other three . . . Rose hadn't mentioned that. It was quite possible she didn't know anything about it.

Tyler didn't matter to Damon. Tyler was a werewolf; to Damon, that meant Tyler needed to die, anyway, so that potential problems could be avoided. It was a form of self-preservation. The only reason Damon hadn't killed him was because he knew Rebecca wouldn't like it. Plus, the kid hadn't done anything wrong yet.

Then there was Caroline, who was still annoying, but she didn't deserve to die. Katherine had changed Caroline specifically for that purpose, however.

A witch would be needed, obviously, but there was one little flaw: Bonnie would never perform a spell that would kill her friends. In fact, he was fairly certain that Bonnie wouldn't kill anyone human. She'd had qualms about helping hurt and kill Mason, who hadn't even been human.

"Damon? Did you hear all that?" Rebecca asked over the line. Damon could hear the strain in her voice and felt an immediate need to go and comfort her.

"I heard. We'll . . . we'll think of something later, when we have more information. Just get here soon, okay?"

"Yes. I'm . . . I'm sorry I'm being so difficult, but I have a lot going on in my mind. As I'm remembering things about Elijah I am . . . I am learning other things as well. Things that used to not make sense. But I don't want to tell you until I can say it in a way that makes sense. Okay? Just bear with me, please?"

What? Did she think that just because she was giving him a hard time that he was going to leave her? He couldn't stand the thought of being away from her, let alone the thought of staying away for long periods to time.

"Of course I will bear with you."  
\----------  
Meanwhile, Caroline and Stefan were at the Grill. She had caught up to him as he'd been leaving school, and it was a good thing, too, because he'd been planning on checking on Elena. Stefan had been worried about her because, like Elena had asked her to do, Caroline had spread the rumor that Elena had gone home sick.

Caroline had ripped through that plan just by telling Stefan that she might have let it slip to Tyler that she was a vampire; Stefan had not been happy, but it had gotten him to forget about Elena because he needed to know what had happened. He didn't want anyone getting hurt.

"I'm sorry to drag you here, but if I don't eat, I get those kill innocent people urges," Caroline said, taking a bite out of the salad she had ordered. "Tyler totally has those, too, by the way."

"Yeah, what else did you say to him?"

"Not much. I was trying to keep the questions to a minimum," she admitted. Though she had explained about the Founder's Council and what they were really about. "Are you mad? Because I didn't mean to. He attacked me and I reacted and I couldn't help it."

"Yes, Caroline, as a matter of fact, I am a little mad. I mean you put yourself at risk. If Damon finds out, he'll kill you."

"But you're not gonna tell him, are you?" Damon had specifically told her not to let Tyler know what she was and yet . . .

"No, of course not."

Caroline smiled. "Always lookin' out for me."

"Yeah, well, you don't exactly make it very easy on me," Stefan said. He was smiling, too, though, so Caroline wasn't worried.

"Then why do you do it? Why are you such a good friend to me?"

"I dunno. I guess you just . . . you remind me of someone. My, uh, my best friend Lexi."

"You have a friend?" she asked, surprised. She'd always assumed that Stefan was a bit of a loner, so she didn't think that he'd have many friends.

"You say that with such a – such a discouraging amount of surprise, Caroline," he teased.

"No, I just . . . Sorry, I just . . . Tell me about her."

"I will some other time, but now I have to go."

"Wait. No. Um, what do I do about Tyler?" Caroline looked at Stefan, who had just stood up. "I – I don't want Damon to kill him because there's a full moon coming up and Tyler's totally freaking out about it."

"Well, I would be concerned if he wasn't," Stefan said.  
\----------  
Across the way, Bonnie had just walked in and had run into Luka, the new guy from school, who was with an older man – his dad, probably.

"Hey, how was your first day?" she asked.

"It was great." Luka gestured to the man he was with. "I would like to introduce you to my dad."

"I'm Bonnie Bennett," she said as the man stood up.

"Dr. Martin. Jonas Martin," he said and offered her his hand, which she shook. She felt a rush go through her. "It's nice to meet you, Bonnie Bennett. Would you like to join us?"

"Oh, I'm – I'm meeting a friend. But he's not here yet, so sure."

Jonas looked at Luka, who slid over gracefully and offered her the spot next to him. Bonnie sat and waited. She hadn't known what that rush had been, but she only ever felt things like that when something was up.

"So, um . . . where'd you move from?" she asked curiously.

"Louisiana," Jonas said.

"That's a big change."

"I'll say," Luka said.

"It's not so bad here," she said. She felt sorry for him. She couldn't imagine having to up and leave her home when in high school. In fact, the thought of leaving all her friends behind filled her with dread.

"It's lookin' up."

"Bennett, huh?" Jonas asked. "I knew some Bennett's when I did my residency in Massachusetts. Do you have any family from Salem?"

"Actually, I do," Bonnie admitted, but she couldn't help but think this guy was prying.

"What d'ya know? Small world, right?"

Jeremy walked in just in the nick of time. Bonnie had been becoming more and more uncomfortable with the way the conversation had been going.

"Oh, there's my friend. It was nice to meet you, Dr. Martin."

"I will see you at school," Luka said.

"Yeah."

Bonnie deliberately touched Luka's shoulder, keeping a smile on her face even though she felt the same rush she'd gotten from his dad.

She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to find out.  
\----------  
"Back entrance. How convenient," Damon said as he got out of the car and stepped onto the pavement of the underground parking lot.

He'd finally made it to Richmond because Rebecca had decided to come home. They'd parted ways peacefully because neither one had meant to snap at the other and they both knew that.

"That's the point," Rose said. "We can't all have little daylight rings."

"How do you know this Slater guy is even here?"

"I called him. He's here; he's always here."

"Good." Damon slammed her up against the wall. "Just one thing. If you are setting me up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat. Something I'm very good at."

Rose didn't look impressed. In fact, she turned the tables around and slammed Damon face-first against her car. She twisted his arm behind his back, but not enough for his bone to break. It still wasn't pleasant.

"I'm older than you, and stronger. Don't get on my bad side." Rose let him go and he quickly turned around only to be confronted with bright green eyes. "You can trust me."

Rose walked away. He was surprised she had turned her back to him; she obviously expected him not to try anything. He followed her to the entrance and then went in with her.

There was soft rock music playing in the building they had gone into. The building was brightly lit and not from bulbs. The windows, and there were several, weren't covered with anything.

"Whoa, what about the sunlight?" he asked, confused that Rose wasn't bursting into flames.

"Double paned and tempered. UV rays can't penetrate. You see the appeal now?"

"That and the free Wi-Fi," said a man who had snuck up behind Rose.

Damon assumed this man was Slater. Rose hugged him, whoever he was.

"I saw you come in. What're you doin' here?"

"That's a long story," Rose said. "But I want you to meet –"

"Damon Salvatore. Turned 1864, Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce, AKA, Katerina Petrova."

Damon was automatically suspicious because of the knowledge this man had. How had he found out? Who had told him? Damon had been careful not to have been identified in the years he'd been a vampire.

"So I take it I was right? What I told you about the tomb under the church is true?"

"Yes, it was right. Thank you for the tip."

Slater offered his hand to Damon, who shook it, albeit hesitantly.

"It's nice to meet you," Slater said. "Maybe. What's goin' on, Rose? Where's, uh, Trevor?"

Rose didn't say anything, but it was answer enough. Slater led them to a table where a laptop was set up. He obviously did spend time here, and had been here already.

Rose told the story of Elena's kidnapping and the subsequent events up to Damon staking Elijah.

"And you're sure Elijah's dead? I thought it would've been harder to kill an Original," Slater said.

"Beyond dead," Damon said.

"Trevor was a good man. Helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period. I was going for my Psych Ph. D."

"Slater's been in college since '74" Rose explained.

"When I was turned. I have 18 degrees, three Masters, and four Ph. D's."

Slater and Rebecca would get along great.

"The point?" Damon asked impatiently.

"Exactly. I mean, what is the point?" Slater asked. "What should I be doing with my eternity? If you have an answer, please enlighten me."

Damon looked at Rose. Unless she wanted to lose another friend, she had better put him on a leash. He was slowly losing his patience. Damon wanted information and he wanted it now.

"We need your help," Rose said. "If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?"

"Craig's list."

"Really?" Damon asked.

"Seriously. I respond to a personal ad that gets sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah, who's dead . . . and that's where my connection ends."

That couldn't be the only way available to get in touch with Klaus. There was always more than one way to skin a cat; they just needed to find it.  
\----------  
"Caroline, you have two seconds to come clean," Stefan said.

He'd played along long enough. He'd sit through her salad and had helped her with the Tyler situation, and now she had ordered a steak. Every time he had tried to leave she had tried to get him to stay. She had always come up with a new problem to ask for help with. Now he was done.

"What d'you mean?"

"I'd believe the whole innocent act a little bit better if I didn't know how good you are at providing a distraction on demand. Where's Elena?"

Caroline bit her lip, hesitating. "I can't tell you."

"You can't tell me? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't – I can't tell you."

"Caroline! Elena was kidnapped. She could've been killed. And you're seriously not gonna tell me where she is?"

"She's not in any danger. I would not have let her put herself in danger."

"Put herself in danger? Where?" Stefan asked, frustrated. "What are – She's with Damon, isn't she?"

"Ew. No," Caroline said. "She's with Rebecca, okay? She's perfectly safe because she's with Rebecca."

"Well, where's Rebecca? Listen, if you're my friend like you've been pretending to be all day . . . then you'll tell me where she is."

"Stefan . . . I am your friend, but I'm also Elena's friend. And I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna tell you where she is." Caroline sighed. "If you think about it, I won't have to. There's only one place in town where she would need a vampire there to protect her – just in case."

Rebecca had taken off right after Elena had, and Rebecca hadn't said a word to Damon. That wasn't normal Rebecca behavior.

"Elena never even went to school today, did she?" he asked.

"No," Caroline admitted. "But she did want to learn something."

Elena would've needed someone who could give her the information she craved. She would've needed an old vampire, and she hadn't gone to Rose.

"Katherine," he said. "She's at the tomb."


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

"Here's what I don't get," Damon said to Slater. "Elijah moved around during the day, which means that the Original people knew the secret of the day ring. Now, why would Klaus wanna lift the curse of the sun and the moon?"

"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse, then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice-versa."

"But werewolves are all but extinct," Rose said.

"Well, true, I've never seen one, but rumor has it . . ."

"Not such a rumor," Damon said.

"Mystic Falls? I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome."

"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, can we render the moonstone useless and stop the curse from being broken?" Damon rephrased his question. There was no way he was telling this guy the reason he wanted to know.

"Well, yeah, probably, but why would you wanna do that?"

"Tell me how."

"You think I'm gonna tell you how to do something that will piss off an Original and keep me from walking in the sun?"

"You wanna walk in the sun? I can make that happen if you help us."

Before Slater could even answer there was a big bang and then the glass was shattering and Damon, Slater, and Rose were falling to the floor.

Chaos broke out, and all Damon heard was screaming. Before Damon did anything else he looked out the window. He wanted to know what had made the windows break. Nothing was outside that Damon could see. The people were talking, of course, but nothing was amiss.

Damon stood up and helped a now blistering Rose up from the floor. She was screaming and crying and Damon knew if he didn't get her out of there, she would burn to death.

Damon quickly removed his jacket and placed it over the parts of Rose that weren't covered. He led her to the back exit where everyone else was headed. Damon noticed that over half this place's patrons were of the undead variety; they would burn too if they didn't get out fast. Rose began stumbling and Damon figured that her pain was very distracting; it had to be if it took away her ability to walk straight.

Damon lifted Rose into his arms and he quickly made his way to her car.

"You're gonna be okay," he said firmly.

"I know. I just . . ."

Damon helped her into the backseat and watched as Rose's burns faded.

"Who was behind that?"

"I don't know. Where's Slater?"

"Iowa by now. Who the hell knows?"

"He's not behind this. He's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me."

"Then who did?"

"It's Klaus. Don't you understand? You don't know this man. We're dead. We're all dead."

Rose began sobbing anew. Damon didn't know if this Klaus character was all he was cracked up to be, but Rose obviously did. Rebecca had been nervous, too, or she wouldn't have been so secretive about going to the tomb with Elena to see Katherine.  
\----------  
At the Grill, Bonnie was taking a break from playing pool. Jeremy had destroyed her anyway; she hadn't been lying when she'd told him she wasn't that great at the game. Jeremy had ordered her a drink and an order of fries that they were planning on sharing whenever the food arrived.

She was seated now just watching as Jeremy shot a few on his own. Luka came up to her and sat down quietly.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "My dad . . . he wasn't very subtle with the whole, uh, Bennett-Salem question. He picked up on you, but he was just fishing around. He didn't mean any harm."

"I felt something too," Bonnie admitted.

"I know. That's why we're having this conversation right now. He, uh . . . he doesn't like for anyone to know, but we were both worried that you would nail us."

Luka picked up the salt shaker, unscrewed the lid, and then poured a small amount of the salt onto the table.

"He just wants us to fit in here. For once."

Luka placed his hand over the salt and Bonnie watched as the white crystals began floating under his palm.

"It's tough, Bonnie. Being different."

"You're a witch?" she whispered, amazed. She'd never heard of a male who practiced magic before.

"Well, we prefer the term warlock."

"How long have you practiced?"

"A while. I've known pretty much my whole life that I was different."

Bonnie didn't know what having two new magic practitioners would mean for the town of Mystic Falls, but she was glad she no longer had to feel alone.  
\----------  
At the tomb, Stefan walked down to the entrance just as Elena seemed to be packing up to leave.

"Stefan, what're you doing here?" Elena asked him quietly.

"I could ask you the same question."

"Caroline told you. Or Damon."

"No, she kept your secret. But it didn't take long for me to figure out what was so important that you'd have to keep it from me."

"I knew that you'd stop me," Elena said unapologetically.

"Listen to me," he said, "whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She is a liar, Elena."

"What if she isn't?" Elena asked. "You didn't hear what she said."

"You don't have to worry. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Stefan would protect her with his life if he had to.

"That's the problem. You won't. But you'll die trying. How is that any better?"

"There's nothing you can do, Stefan," Katherine's voice came from inside the tomb. "I haven't even told you the best part of the story. He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance. On your friends, your family, on anyone that you've ever loved."

"No," Stefan said, knowing that with Elena's selfless nature she would gladly give herself up if it meant saving the people she cared about. "Look at me. Do not listen to her, okay?"

"Always the protector," Katherine said, chuckling. "But even you must realize that she's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it. Unless, of course, you have this."

Katherine held up the moonstone that Rebecca had left there. Everyone had assumed that Katherine wouldn't have been able to use it, seeing as to how she was stuck inside the tomb.

"There it is," Stefan scoffed. "That's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"

"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth."

"No, let me guess. You wanna trade that stone for your freedom. You manipulative, psychotic bitch."

"My freedom?" Katherine asked, smiling. "That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all, and he will . . . I'll be in the tomb where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."

Katherine slowly walked away, leaving Stefan there to think about what she'd said. If Katherine really didn't want her freedom, then why had she showed them the moonstone? What else could she possibly want from them?

Mystic Falls, 1864

It was the night of the Founder's Ball; Damon had just walked Rebecca to her room and she had since left her room to snoop around Giuseppe's office. After doing so, she sneake out of the house and went towards the woods. She knew Elijah would be around.

Everything would've been fine had George Lockwood, in all his drunken glory, not taken it upon himself to follow her home. He had grabbed onto her arm. Part of her noticed that he wasn't trying to hurt her even if he was drunk, but the other part of her was furious because he shouldn't have followed her home and he shouldn't have been grabbing at her now.

"Why're you sneaking around out here?" he asked. "It's really not safe here."

She almost laughed. This guy really had no clue how right he was. It wasn't safe here. In fact, her survival instincts were kicking in and she could feel the hair on her arms beginning to stand on end. She was also fighting against those instincts because she knew that it was Elijah who was making her feel that way.

"Miss Stone." There was Elijah's polite and refined voice. "Are you in need of assistance?"

"Um . . ." Again she realized that George Lockwood's hand was gripping her arm. "Yes, thank you."

Elijah moved toward George, grace in every step. She noticed then how tall he was; he was easily almost six feet tall. He had excellently tailored clothes, and Rebecca imagined that he had probably come from a time when appearance was more important than anything else.

Elijah met her gaze before switching his eyesight to George Lockwood. Rebecca was surprised to find that Elijah wasn't trying to compel George Lockwood. It looked like he was only planning on giving him a lecture.

"You're going to leave this place and you will not approach Miss Stone again in such a manner. She deserves more respect than that."

Elijah released George's eye-line and looked back at Rebecca as George sulked away.. She was surprised that Elijah hadn't just killed George. Surprised, but glad too. She hadn't wanted him killed, anyway; she had only wanted George to leave her alone and he had.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't kill him."

"Violence is not necessary in every situation."

She smiled and nodded. She had never taken Elijah in, had never felt the need to because she had only seen him as a vampire. Now she saw him as a person.

His hair and eyes were equally dark – his eyes were as black as so many bottomless pits. His hair was long and glossy; his hair fell to his shoulders; his locks looked clean and soft.

"It has come to my attention recently that you're not from around here, and I mean that from a time management standpoint. How are you here? How did you come to be here?"

"I – uh . . . How did you . . ."

Elijah graced her with a small smile. "I believe I asked you first, Miss Stone."

"So you did, but . . . uh . . . Am I that obvious?"

"It is not you, I assure you."

"Hm . . . Well, I came here accidentally. I was reading from a spell book and . . . Well, the rest is history."

"You're a witch as well as a vampire slayer?" Elijah asked, surprised.

"No. I mean . . . I don't think so. I just think it was meant to happen."

"Destiny?" Elijah asked fondly. "You're still young enough to believe in destiny."

"You don't believe in destiny?"

"Not anymore. We sometimes have no control over what happens in our lives, but we are what cause things to happen."

"I've never thought of it that way," Rebecca admitted.

Again Elijah smiled. "You are young; you shouldn't have to think of such things anyway. Enjoy your youth – just not too much."

The more time Rebecca spent with Elijah, the more she realized she enjoyed his company. She didn't enjoy it in the same way she enjoyed Damon's, but Elijah was good to talk to.  
\----------  
Present Day Mystic Falls

"I'm sorry about today," Rose said from the backseat. "I didn't know that was gonna happen."

"I believe you," Damon said.

Rose had long since healed and stopped crying, but she hadn't spoken until just then. They were almost to the boardinghouse and Damon was anxious to get home. He wanted to spend some time with Rebecca – some time where neither was snapping at the other.

"I wish we could save Elena. I know that you want to."

Of course he wanted to save her. Elena was Stefan's girlfriend; Elena had given Stefan life. Stefan had spent so much of his time just existing, but with Elena he was alive. But Elena wasn't important to only Stefan. No, Elena mattered to everyone. She was Rebecca's friend, and was like a sister to her. There was no way Rebecca would put up with Elena's crap if she didn't care for the little doppelganger. Plus, Elena had weaseled her way into Damon's own heart with her self-sacrificing, selfless-almost-to-the-point-of-stupid ways.

"And I will," Damon told Rose. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw her smile.

"You remind me of Trevor. He always talked a big game. He was always working an angle. But underneath it all he was the best friend anyone could ever hope for."

"And where'd that get him?"

"Dead. And my loyalty to him almost got me dead too."

Damon finally pulled up to the boardinghouse. He didn't want to seem like he was too desperate to see Rebecca and Chelsea, but he was desperate. Not to mention the fact that all he could hear was Chelsea crying. In fact, if she had been older, he would've sworn she was screaming, and Rebecca didn't seem to be doing anything about it.

Something had to be wrong because Rebecca wouldn't let Chelsea carry on like that. So he rushed into the house and went straight to the parlor where Chelsea's cries were coming from. The little girl was on the floor beside an unconscious Rebecca.

She'd been having more memories coming back, it seemed. He shouldn't have left either of his girls alone. Rebecca had a weakness right now. She never knew when the memories were going to hit her and therefore didn't know when she would suddenly become unresponsive.

Leaving Rebecca vulnerable had left Chelsea vulnerable.  
\----------  
Elena had just arrived home; Stefan had walked her. She hadn't said anything to him about what Katherine had told her. She didn't think she'd be able to talk about it, but she needed to. She couldn't hold in all the guilt and agony she was feeling.

"I wanted to know the truth, Stefan, and I got it. It's not just me that's in danger. It's – it's Caroline and it's Tyler and it's Bonnie. They're all part of breaking the curse. I can't blame anyone else anymore."

Elena had never said it out loud before, but she'd been harboring resentment toward Stefan for moving to Mystic Falls; she'd secretly thought that maybe he and Damon had brought the other Supernatural things with them. Then she'd fallen in love with Stefan and she'd thought that maybe they were being punished because humans weren't supposed to mix with vampires, romantically speaking. In fact, humans weren't even supposed to know about vampires existing.

She had even had a period where she'd blamed Rebecca. The fact that Rebecca was a Slayer could've brought all the vampires here; they could've been drawn by her power.

Now she knew it wasn't anyone's fault but her own.

"Everyone I love is in danger, and it's because of me. Everything is because of me and –"

Elena couldn't speak any longer. She broke off into gasping sobs, and Stefan wrapped his arms around her, grasping her to him tightly.

Elena didn't know what to do with herself. She had never wanted to be the cause of so much drama or trauma. She didn't want to be the cause of her friends and family getting hurt.

She didn't know what to do to prevent that.  
\----------  
"It's a lie, you know," Rose said, sitting beside Damon, who had just put Chelsea down to sleep. She had calmed down exponentially when Damon had walked into the room. "There's no switch you can turn off. Sure, when you're a newbie, but after a couple hundred years . . . you just have to pretend."

Rose's phone started to ring, so she answered it. Damon heard Slater's voice come through on the other end.

"Slater. Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes. I – I took off. I'm sorry. I was freaked."

"No, I'm sorry to involve you."

"Look, I want no part in any of this, but I did some digging. You can destroy the curse, but you need the moonstone."

"How? What d'you mean? I don't follow."

"Well, can your friend get the moonstone? You need it."

Rose looked at Damon, who nodded. He had to think of a plan, but he would get it if they needed it.

"Yes, he can get it. What next?"

"You need a witch. Get the moonstone. A witch should be able to figure out the rest. Good luck, Rose."

"Thank you," she said.

By the time Rose had hung up, Rebecca had begun to wake up. Damon's attention was drawn to her.

"Becca?" he said, trying to make her focus. She seemed dazed, like the first time the memories had invaded her mind.

"Damon," she said, sitting up slowly. "We were friends."

"What?" He was fairly certain they still were friends – more than that, even.

"Elijah and I – we were friends. We talked a lot while Katherine was compelling you. He was going to help me get you back from her in exchange for me handing over Katherine. I think that's why Katherine wanted me dead."

What was Rebecca going on about? She and Elijah had been friends? Damon hadn't even known Elijah had been in Mystic Falls before, let alone in 1864. He didn't know if he liked where all these memories of Rebecca's were going. They were all leading to Elijah having to have compelled her at some point. Damon wanted to know why it had been necessary.

"He promised no harm would come to me the night I met him and then he walked me home."

"He walked you home?" Damon asked incredulously. "What, did he kiss your cheek too?"

"What? No! It was nothing like that. He was keeping me safe because there was a full moon that night. Plus, he needed something from me."

Damon noticed that it had taken several minutes for Rebecca to even wonder where and how Chelsea was. These memories must've really been clogging up her head space for her not to ask about her sister sooner.

"She's asleep. She was going nuts earlier when Rose and I got here."

Rose smiled uncertainly. "It's strange. Chelsea's so young and yet . . . she wouldn't leave me alone when I was upset this morning. She's a very special girl."

"That she is," Damon said.  
\----------  
The next morning, Rebecca woke up sprawled over Damon's chest. She hadn't had any more memories come back to her while sleeping, which she was thankful for. She was already confused enough as it was; she didn't need any more information to fill her headspace.

She knew Damon liked having her close when he was sleeping; she didn't hate it herself. It was very comforting having someone there who loved her, who would protect her if anything should happen in the night.

She looked up at him and noticed that his eyes were trained on her. His blue orbs were hooded from sleep, but they were also sexy and electric.

Damon slipped an arm around her and she accepted the embrace gracefully. Rebecca enjoyed being held close like this. She knew Damon needed this right now. She hadn't thought about Damon becoming insecure about their relationship because of all her new memories; he hadn't let anything slip until the day before.

Damon wasn't the only one who needed reassurance that morning. After everything she'd learned from Katherine about Klaus, and everything she'd learned about Elijah from her own new memories, she wanted to be held by Damon.

Damon moved her hair to the side and placed his lips on her neck, eliciting a small shiver from her. He made her want to forget anything that didn't have to do with her and Damon.

She didn't want to think about Elena, who was having a fit about the Klaus thing. Rebecca knew it sucked that Klaus – whoever that was – would kill Elena's friends just to break a curse, and Rebecca didn't want that to happen anymore than Elena did because most of Elena's friends were also Rebecca's friends.

"I love you," she heard Damon say, and then she felt his hand go up her shirt so he could trail his fingers over the skin of her stomach.

"I love you," she said back. "You don't have to worry about anything, Damon. I loved you even back then."

She hadn't thought about Damon's insecurities in a while because he hadn't shown them much lately. However, when she'd mentioned her and Elijah being friends she could tell the little green monster had roared its ugly head for Damon. She just needed him to know that he was it. Elijah had nothing on him.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled gently, just hard enough to make him feel it. He brought his mouth to hers, but before she could really get into it he moved back to her neck. He kissed her skin as if he had all the time in the world.

In a way, she guessed they did.  
\----------  
About an hour later a knock came from outside the room. Damon quickly pulled the covers over Rebecca – he didn't really have any modesty issues, but he knew if anyone were to come in Rebecca would be mortified.

"Um . . . Bonnie's downstairs." Stefan was on the other side of the door. "She's here for Chelsea."

Damon groaned; they had just been about to make love for the second time that morning. He felt better, however, when Rebecca seemed like she was a little disappointed too.

"We'll be there in a minute," Rebecca said.

"We'll be downstairs in the living room," Stefan said and then walked away. Both Rebecca and Damon could hear his footsteps fading as Stefan went down the hallway.

"You know he did that on purpose," Damon said to Rebecca, who smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, he probably did. We should get dressed, though."

"No . . ." Damon pretended to whine and stuck his bottom lip out. He was only pretending to pout; he didn't really care. Bonnie had come so they could figure out what was going on with Chelsea. No, he hadn't liked being interrupted the way they had been, but he could handle it because it was important.

Once downstairs, everyone ended up in the parlor. Damon and Rebecca had gotten Chelsea from her room. The girl had climbed out of her crib, much to their surprise, which meant they would have to get her an actual bed or something – or use the mattress they had been using in the beginning so she wouldn't fall and hurt herself.

"Did you find anything?" Rebecca asked as soon as she saw Bonnie. "I mean, we already know what she is, I think, but how do we stop it?"

"Well, we can always bind her powers," Bonnie suggested.

Rebecca saw Bonnie take the Grimiore out of her shoulder bag and set the bag on the couch beside her.

"When she reaches whatever age I set the spell to . . . everything will come back to her. She'll be older, more able to handle it and understand it."

"Any drawbacks?"

"Well, only one. We don't know what she's capable of, not really. And if we suppress her natural abilities . . . they could all hit her at once. Mental overload. It wouldn't hurt her, but she'd be out of control for a while."

"But older?" Damon asked, because to him that was the most important part. When Chelsea was older she would know to leave when Damon or Rebecca had to do something that would result in Chelsea feeling empathetic pain. Now, Chelsea was vulnerable and defenseless and every time she got hurt she didn't understand why.

"How long will this take?" Rebecca asked. "What do you need?"

"I'll need maybe an hour to get ready and the spell will only take a few minutes."

"Great."

Just then Rose walked in, her hair all messed up from sleep.

"What about the moonstone?" Rose asked.

"What about the moonstone?" Bonnie reiterated.

"The guy we went to see yesterday said that there's a way to break the moonstone curse," Damon said. "He also said a witch could figure it out. You're a witch, so . . ."

"And breaking the curse will save Elena?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes, hopefully," Rebecca said. "Or at least that's what we're shooting for."

"I'll help," Bonnie said. "What d'you need?"

"Well, Katherine has the moonstone and we need it," Stefan said. "If we could get in and get out . . ."

"That could be tricky, but I'll see what I can come up with."  
\----------  
Since Bonnie had agreed with the idea of getting the moonstone, Rebecca, Damon, and Stefan went to the tomb to talk to Katherine. Rebecca only went for moral support; she didn't really care what Katherine had to say.

The brunette looked a lot like she had the day before – starved and dirty. Rebecca couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for the vampire at all.

"Come on in," Katherine said. "There's plenty of room for all of us."

"I'd rather poke my eyes out," Damon said.

"But they're such pretty eyes," Katherine purred.

"Those words may be the truest you've ever spoken," Rebecca said. Then to Damon, "You do have pretty eyes."

"We're here for the moonstone," Stefan said, leaning against the entrance of the tomb. "Feel like tossin' it over?"

"Tell you what?" Katherine started, "you get your little witch to hocus-pocus me outta here, and you can have whatever you want."

"I thought you liked it in here. Nice and safe, where Klaus can't get to you."

"I've had time to reconsider," Katherine said.

"Meaning you're hungry," Rebecca said.

"I'm starving, actually, and dirty. But above all, I'm bored. At least running from Klaus wasn't boring."

"Of course it wasn't," Rebecca snapped. "Because you ruined every life you came across."

Katherine slowly made her way to the entrance of the tomb. "Here's the deal. You get me out of here, you get the moonstone, and I'll disappear from Mystic Falls forever. Let me know what you decide."

Katherine pulled the moonstone out of the bosom of her dress and waved it in front of their faces. Rebecca actually stepped forward and would've reached for it, but Damon kept her from going into the tomb.

"Ah-ah," he said. "You go in, you're not coming out. Not happening! We'll find another way."

Rebecca took a deep breath, knowing he was right.

"No, please. We could have fun, just us girls," Katherine quipped.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and went out of the hole that led to the tomb and then got her phone out and dialed Elena's number.

"Yeah," the brunette answered.

"Hey," Rebecca said. "Can I come over? Stefan, Damon and I went to see Katherine."

"Oh, uh . . . sure. Come on over. Did you learn anything new?"

"Um . . . Not really, but she wants to make a deal. Her freedom for the moonstone. We let her out and she'll give us the stone and leave forever."

"You don't actually believe her, do you?"

"No, of course not. We just want the moonstone." Rebecca sighed. "According to Rose's friend, Slater, there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break. No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice. Ergo, you live."

"How do you destroy it? And how do you even know this is gonna work?"

"Because we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon said, appearing by Rebecca's side. He'd obviously been listening in.

"You've discussed it with Bonnie," Elena said, resignation in her voice.

"She said she'd do anything to help us."

"Yeah, but it's Katherine who has the moonstone; she's not gonna give it to you."

"We have Bonnie working on it. If she can lower the seal for just a few minutes then we can get in, get the stone, and get back out without a problem," Rebecca said. "One of us, meaning me, can probably hold her back since she's weak from starvation, and Stefan and Damon can go find the stone."

"Wow. It sounds like you guys have it all planned out," Elena said, but despite her words, she didn't sound impressed.

"Yup, we're awesome," Damon said playfully, placing his mouth nearer to the phone so Elena would hear.

"Except for one thing. I don't want you to do it."

Rebecca looked at Damon and he just looked back. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Elena . . ." Rebecca bit her lip hard once, her throat tightening. "You'll die."

"I know," Elena said calmly. "But everyone else I love will be safe and alive."

"Look, we'll be there shortly, okay? We'll discuss this then, okay?"

"Okay, but I've already made my decision."


	22. Rebecca's Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a filler chapter, pretty much. I didn't know where exactly to put the rest of Rebecca's memories from 1864, so I just made a post and put them together. There's only 2, really, but it also has Damon's reaction to them.
> 
> Enjoy! I liked writing these.

(1)

Mystic Falls, 1864

Rebecca was once again walking around at night, alone. One would think after being hunted by what she was sure had been a wolf she would've learned to be careful. She hadn't.

Besides, she hadn't wanted to ride back to the Veritas estate with Giuseppe. They had recently been in a council meeting at the Gilbert house. She hadn't spoken to the eldest Salvatore the whole way there because they had gotten into it earlier because she had defended Damon. He'd had the audacity to hit her for stating what she believed.

She was suddenly lifted and thrown against a tree. She hadn't been paying attention or she would've felt that there was a vampire around.

She fell to the ground and landed on her knees. Looking up, she noticed a guy with black hair and a beard had been the one to attack her; there were others with him.

"You know, it's not safe here at night," he said, his tone mocking. "Especially for a Slayer like yourself."

Rebecca stood up and grabbed the first branch thick enough to use as a stake.

"Did you know it's rude to sneak up on people?"

Before she could do anything, her attacker had moved so fast that he was a blur and grabbed her by the throat and shoved her back against the tree. He was choking her and she panicked. She grabbed at his hand and tried to pry him off of her.

It didn't work.

"Frederick, leave the girl alone," a commanding voice said from the shadows of the trees. "Let me handle it."

Frederick didn't listen. Red veins appeared below his eyes and Rebecca began to struggle harder. He was not allowed to kill her; she wasn't ready to die. She'd never really even lived.

Just as Frederick ripped into her neck, he was torn from her. She slipped back onto the ground and grabbed at her wound. She was bleeding heavily from her neck and she didn't know how to stop it.

"Leave now," a male voice ordered from above her. "Do not come back if you value your life."

Elijah. She recognized the voice. Relief flowed through her because he'd promised her no harm would come to her. He really had been watching out for her.

Said vampire kneeled beside her and gently removed her hand from over her neck. He assessed the damage and said, "You need to be healed. Will you allow me to heal you?"

Rebecca shook her head, but she wasn't refusing his request. She just didn't know what he meant.

"My blood will heal you if you drink it." Elijah grasped her chin and made her look at him. "You will die without it."

Elijah brought his wrist to his own mouth and bit down. When he offered it to her, Rebecca hesitated for only a few seconds. She knew she didn't want to die, so she really had no choice.  
\----------  
Present Day

Rebecca woke up and instantly felt she was being watched. She was in bed lying with her head on Damon's chest. Waking up, she saw that Damon's eyes were on her.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," he answered. "You okay?"

She nodded against him. "Remembering more still. Elijah . . . he really was looking out for me back then."

"Because he wanted your help," Damon said.

"Maybe," she said, not wanting to argue. She, however, thought that Elijah had started to care about her. If he had wanted Katherine bad enough, he could've gotten her a different way.

"Did Elijah stay in Mystic Falls the whole time, do you think?"

"You mean until Katherine was supposed to have died?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. I've only remembered up to the Founder's Ball. He had saved me twice by then. Once from a werewolf, and once from bleeding to death."

She felt Damon stiffen under her. She knew it had to do with both the fact that she'd admitted she'd almost died and that in order for Elijah to have saved her from that, he would've had to have fed her his blood. Damon didn't like either.

"He must've compelled me there because that's not how I remember it happening. I remember being able to scare Frederick off; I was stronger than him."

"But?"

"But what really happened was . . ." So she went on and told him what had happened and why she'd had to drink Elijah's blood to heal herself.

Everything else was the same. She'd still talked to Anna and Pearl. She'd still warned them about the council and that they'd needed to leave as soon as possible.

Why had he compelled her to believe that she'd been stronger than she actually had been? Did he not want her to remember him so badly that he had compelled her to forget everything?

Obviously he had, but she wanted to know why.  
\----------  
(2)

Mystic Falls, 1864

Rebecca was at the edge of the forest outside of Veritas where Damon had placed her. She was behind some trees. Damon had told her to stay there and that he'd be back soon. She didn't want to risk losing track of him, so she wasn't going to move.

The council members – the male members – were running around with guns. Regular bullets wouldn't do enough damage to the vampires. Maybe there was vervain in them. Jonathan Gilbert had his compass and was in the middle of capturing Pearl. Where was Anna? Had she already been put in the wagon where the other vampires had been rounded up?

She realized she was gripping one of the branches of the trees when it broke off and she almost stumbled to the ground, but someone grabbed her arm steadying her.

She knew without looking that it was Elijah. She'd gotten used to the feeling he gave her.

"You still haven't learned to stay indoors at night, Miss Stone?" Elijah's voice held a hint of amusement.

"Elijah," she muttered. "There's too much going on for me to stay inside. Damon needed help."

"Katherine was captured," Elijah deduced. "Was she killed?"

"No, I don't think so. I think she is in the police wagon." Rebecca looked around. "I'm helping Damon get her out. If you can compel him right after that, you can have her."

Elijah nodded. "I will continue to watch through the trees. When the time is right, I will come to you."

With that Elijah disappeared, which was good because Damon and Stefan were on their way to her hiding place.

"Stefan?" She didn't know why he was with Damon. He'd been the one to get Katherine captured. "Are you helping?"

He nodded. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

She nodded back in response. She was sure that was true; Stefan wouldn't have willingly hurt his brother, she didn't believe.  
\----------  
"Damon!"

He was on the ground with blood oozing from his chest. He'd been shot after he and Stefan had gotten Katherine out of the wagon she'd been placed in.

Stefan was shot shortly after that, but she didn't pay attention to him. She'd fallen beside Damon and had drawn him to her. There were more shots ringing out, but they weren't hitting her so she didn't care.

Damon's eyes had lost their life now and she felt part of her break away. She'd never believed in soulmates until that moment. She'd found her soulmate and now she was losing him and the part of her that belonged to him.

Someone grabbed her from behind and yanked her up. Again she knew it was Elijah without having to actually see him. She struggled, not wanting to leave Damon's body unattended.

"Let me go!" she yelled. "Let me go!"

"You will die here!" his voice sounded in her ears. "We will hide and come back."

He dragged her into the woods and when they were far enough in he released her. She fell to the ground and the folds of her dress protected her knees from the leaves, bristles, and branches.

She forced herself to stand up and as soon as she was steady she shoved Elijah with all her strength, which didn't do much of anything.

"I told you to let me go!"

"You would've died," Elijah said calmly, which angered her further and she shoved him again.

"I don't care!"

"Well, I do." He gripped her forearms and she wasn't able to move any longer. "Stop fighting me. It will do you no good. Cry if you must, but stop hitting me."

I must cry, she thought and a dam broke inside her.

"Damon's dead," she whispered. "He's dead, Elijah. I did what you asked. Katherine is there for you, but Damon is dead."

She covered her mouth with her hand, ignoring the blood there, and tried to cover the whimpers that were coming from her mouth. Her chest was tight – so tight that it hurt – and her throat began to burn with unshed tears. She could barely breathe; it was as if whatever part had left her was the part she needed to live.

How would she be able to survive if she couldn't breathe? She looked at Elijah, who seemed to be feeling sympathy for her pain but knew he was helpless to do anything to help her.

Elijah stayed with her until Emily Bennett called out for her. Before he took off he said, "I'll be close by. Just call out, okay?"

She didn't respond, she stayed where she was until Emily found her and basically forced her to her feet. She was told Damon would wake up so she went back to where she'd left Damon and Stefan.  
\----------  
Present Day

For the second night in a row Damon had woken up to Rebecca whimpering in her sleep and he knew it had to do with her new memories. This time she had screamed out his name and had scared the crap out of him in the process. It had sounded as if she'd been in pain.

She'd begun to thrash around and he'd had to hold her down. When he'd begun shouting her name, she hadn't responded. Apparently she was too much into her memories.

Impulsively, he decided he wanted to know what was going on in his lover's mind. It took a lot to make Rebecca scream out in pain, so he couldn't even imagine what she was going through.

He was hoping this would work because he'd only done this to Rebecca once, when she'd been human; he was going to try to get in her head. Her being a super-strong vampire now, she would probably fight him.

There should've been at least a little resistance, but there was none. Rebecca's guard was completely down, and now he knew why. Rebecca was reliving one of her worst memories: The night he had been killed right in front of her.

She was at the quarry and she was washing his shirt off. She was also crying. She had blood on her dress, but she didn't seem to mind it. She wasn't even really paying attention to anything. She was just crying and washing, her hands working almost mechanically on the white shirt in her hands.

Why was Rebecca dreaming about this? This had to be important; something must've happened here. This had to be another memory she was gaining.

He watched silently as Rebecca laid the now almost clean shirt over a rock for it to dry. She moved closer to the Damon on the ground and placed his head on her lap. She began caressing his face and the real Damon sucked in a breath. That was when he knew she had loved him even then. She may not have known it, but it was obvious to him.

"Rebecca . . ." There was Elijah, and here is where things would get interesting. "I assume he is coming back?"

Rebecca didn't respond vocally, but she did nod. Damon noticed she had clutched the Damon on the ground tighter to her. Did she think Elijah was a threat to him?

"You need to change," he said. "The blood will drive him crazy when he awakes. He might not be able to –"

"Control himself," Rebecca muttered. "Got it."

She immediately began to strip the dress off. She wasn't wearing a corset – she never had unless it had been completely necessary. She was left with a thin white slip on; she instantly began shivering.

"I'd offer you my jacket, but I can't have you wondering where it came from."

"What?"

Elijah knelt beside her and gently grabbed her chin. "I have something for you."

"Elijah?" Rebecca whispered. "Why did you save me? Katherine was right there, so why save me?"

"Because you didn't deserve to die," Elijah said simply. "I came here wanting to kill someone who betrayed me. I ended up saving someone who helped me. Katherine has either been locked in a tomb or killed in a fire. Either way, she won't be causing any more problems."

Rebecca sniffled. "You have something for me, you said."

"I do."

Out of his pocket, Elijah produced Rebecca's cross necklace. She gasped and felt her throat. She was probably making sure it was hers. Damon figured it must've been because hers was not around her neck.

"Where'd you find it?" she asked and Damon could hear the relief.

"I could lie and tell you that you dropped it today, but you didn't. The truth is I've had it from the time I healed you. I took it from you as you were drinking."

"No. I've – I've had it on. I don't take it off."

"I compelled you not to notice."

"Why?" Her relief had turned into tension. "What did you make me do?"

"Nothing. I made you do nothing."

"Then why did you take my necklace?"

"As a precaution. I never thought you would help me after you realized what I wanted you to do." He gripped her chin again. "Thank you for showing me humanity is worth something after all."

Rebecca couldn't look away and Damon knew she was being compelled now.

"You've never met me, Rebecca. The night we met, I never came up to you. You didn't need saving because you went home as soon as you heard the howling start. The night Frederick bit you never happened. He choked you, but you were stronger than him and were able to fight him off. You talked with the others and then walked away. Tonight you left the brothers by the wagon and went back for them when it was safe. You didn't want to die."

"I didn't want to die," she repeated.

"For your safety . . . you won't remember me unless we meet again. It was a pleasure knowing you," Elijah said and kissed her cheek. "Stay sweet, Rebecca."

Damon watched as Elijah placed the necklace around Rebecca's neck and then sped away. He knew then that Elijah had cared for Rebecca, may have even loved her in a way. Rebecca had cared for Elijah too if her sense of betrayal had been anything to go by.

Gently, Damon pulled himself from her mind. This time when he tried to wake her up, he had no problem.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

As soon as Stefan stepped foot inside Elena's house, he said, "Elena, we don't have a choice."

Rebecca had explained to him what Elena had said to her on the phone, and Stefan needed to let Elena know that she couldn't not let them do this.

"Well, what about Klaus?" Elena said.

"We'll find him right after we get the moonstone," Stefan said.

"Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about, including the three of you."

"What're you talking about?" Rebecca asked. "We'll be fine."

"If we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life," Stefan said.

"I know. Everybody keeps saying that," Elena snapped. "Katherine said if I try to get away, Klaus will kill everyone I love for revenge."

"When did she say that?" Rebecca asked.

"After you left."

Elena shook her head and turned away. She began telling the story of Katherine losing her family to Klaus all because she'd run away, all because he hadn't gotten what he'd wanted.

Stefan didn't know what to do. He naturally wanted to give Elena free will and let her make her own choices, but what if that meant he'd have to give her up because she wouldn't allow him to help her.

"Elena . . ." Rebecca said. "I don't want our friends to die either. Bonnie and Caroline are like sisters to me, but you're my friend too. I'm going to help protect you. If we're going to disagree then we're going to disagree, but I'm not going to let you get yourself killed because of a stupid rock."

Elena turned back to her and narrowed her eyes. "Quoting Katherine? How convenient."

"Well, I understand choosing vampirism over sacrificial killing. At least you wouldn't be dead."

"I don't wanna die," Elena said softly. "But I don't wanna be a vampire, and I won't let my friends die."

Stefan watched the two friends discuss Elena's fate and then he looked at Damon, who seemed just as interested in the girls' conversation.

"Elena, give us today, okay? Let us attempt to get the moonstone and find a way to save everyone involved, okay? If we fail to get the stone today we can talk some more about ways to keep Klaus from going after everyone else. Please?"

Stefan saw that Rebecca was fighting to stay calm. Rebecca had something to lose here too. If Elena didn't listen to Klaus, Rebecca would be in danger, as would other people Rebecca cared about.

"Today," Elena said. "Just today to get the stone?"

Rebecca nodded. "Until midnight and then we'll try it your way – with a few conditions, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Fine. Today."

Rebecca smiled softly, looking relieved. "Then we should start right away. Come on, guys."  
\----------  
"So your Grams waited until you were in high school to tell you that you are a witch?"

"Mm. She had brought it up before, but I just thought she was drunk."

Bonnie had taken Chelsea to the park, and she had called Luka to see if he wanted to meet her there. He had, so there they were.

She had made him laugh with what she had said, so she began speaking again. "In my defense, she was."

"So then you're, like, new," Luka said.

"New-ish," Bonnie agreed. "I still have some growing pains."

"Like?"

Bonnie pressed her lips together. She knew that her friends would be telling her not to say anything. She'd be giving away her weakness if she told Luka the problems she was having, but she didn't want to just ignore his question. He was one of the two magic users she'd met, and she didn't want to push him away.

They began walking down a gravel path, Chelsea in her stroller, and Bonnie decided she'd give half-truths. Maybe Luka could help. He'd been practicing longer than she had.

"Physically, it's become a lot harder. Uh, I – I have a bad reaction to it sometimes."

"You mean nose bleeds?"

"Yeah. And I pass out sometimes."

"It's because you're trying to do too much on your own. You need help," Luka explained.

"From what?"

"From nature. The elements. Just things that you can draw extra power from. Have you ever channeled another witch before?"

"What is that?"

Bonnie stopped pushing the stroller when they came to the picnic area. The park looked good because everyone had recently helped rebuild some of the older wooden benches. She took Chelsea out of the stroller and placed the girl on her feet. Chelsea seemed excited to be able to run around on her own. Well, technically she was waddling, but to Chelsea it was running.

"Say we put our energy together, we can double our strength," Luka explained what channeling was. "Who are you baby-sitting for?"

"My friend, Rebecca." Bonnie smiled softly. "This channeling . . . is it dangerous? I remember channeling from a friend once. She nearly died."

"Is she a witch?"

"No."

"That's why. It's safer with another magic-user. I'll show you. Watch. Let me see that bracelet."

Bonnie pulled her yellow good-luck bracelet off and handed it to him; he handed her a pair of tags that had been on a chain hanging from his neck.

"Okay. Now I want you to stand very still and concentrate."

"I don't get it. What're we doing?"

"We're channeling. Personal items will work as a talisman. Now concentrate."

Bonnie closed her eyes and immediately felt his energy merge with hers. Chelsea giggled and Bonnie had a feeling the girl could feel this too.

The power grew stronger and the wind suddenly picked up, the leaves on the trees blowing every which way. Bonnie began trembling as Luka's power entered her body, filling her every limb with strength.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Luka asked, and Bonnie giggled.

"That was amazing! I didn't know I could do that."

"Well, now you do."

Bonnie's smile faded as she realized something was missing. Chelsea was no longer laughing along with her. Bonnie looked to where the infant had been.

Chelsea was gone.  
\----------  
Elena Gilbert drove up to the entrance of the boardinghouse Damon's car wasn't there so she assumed that meant no one was home. Rose would be there, of course, because she couldn't walk in the daylight, but that was okay. Rose was who she needed, anyway.

Elena wanted to find out more information about Klaus. She had exhausted the source that was Katherine Pierce, so Rose was the only one she knew who could help her.

"It's a bad idea," Rose said when Elena explained her plan to get more information.

"No, it's not. From what Stefan told me, your friend Slater obviously has more information about Klaus. You and Damon just gave up before you got it."

"Because somebody blew up a coffee shop with us in it."

"There's more to learn. We just have to find a way to learn it," Elena said.

"Why are you coming to me with this?"

"Because you owe me. One word from me, and Damon and Stefan could've killed you for kidnapping me."

"Or maybe it's because you know they wouldn't want you doing this, and their moonstone caper gives you a chance to sneak away."

"We're having a disagreement, okay? They're willing to risk everyone that I love, and I'm not."

"They're just trying to protect you. You're not the only one who has someone to lose in all this."

"You've proven you don't care whether I'm protected or not. So we're back to you taking me to Slater."

"What exactly do you hope to achieve by this?" Rose asked seriously.

Elena could tell Rose was considering taking her to Richmond, so Elena knew she couldn't tell her the real reason for wanting to go.

"How would you like to be able to walk during the daylight?"

"I've been a slave to the shadows for five hundred years. What do you think?"

"I think I know a witch who's willing to do whatever it takes to help . . . if you're willing to make a deal."

Rose stared at her. "Are you playing with me?"

"No. You do this for me and I'll get Bonnie to make you a day ring."  
\----------  
Rebecca, Damon, and Stefan were at the store getting some supplies that Bonnie might need for the spell they were going to do to get the moonstone when Rebecca's phone rang. Bonnie's number appeared on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Becca . . . Chelsea's gone!"

"What?" Rebecca stilled and looked at Damon, who had tensed at the words. "What d'you mean, gone? You're supposed to be with her."

"I was! We were at the park and I took her out of the stroller so she could walk around. I turned away for a few seconds and when I looked back she was gone."

"Someone took her?" Rebecca wondered out loud.

Damon snatched the phone away from Rebecca. "Damn it, witch, you were supposed to be watching her!"

"I know. I'm sorry," Bonnie cried. "I'll find her, I promise, but I need a place to do a locator's spell and I'll need some of Robert's blood."

"What about mine?" Rebecca asked, wondering how exactly she was going to work getting her dad's blood. Besides, Chelsea was her sister; they shared blood.

"Tell her it won't work, Damon. She's a vampire now. The blood I use has to be from someone alive."

"We'll get the blood. Just meet us at the boardinghouse," Damon said.

Damon Salvatore wanted to kill Bonnie Bennett! He should've known not to leave the semi-competent witch in charge of Chelsea. Chelsea should've been safe, in theory, but she hadn't been; someone had taken her and Damon had a feeling that they weren't going to have a John Gilbert to bring her back this time.  
\----------  
Tyler was at the high school practicing free throws in the basketball court when Caroline came up to him. He had seen her gawking at Matt earlier and she seemed saddened because Matt wouldn't speak to her.

"You two still on the outs?" he asked.

"Looks like it."

"Don't feel bad. He's not talking to me either," Tyler said, trying to be comforting. "I think he blames himself for Sara."

"Right." Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and smiled gently. "You realize there's almost a full moon?"

"Vampires don't have enough problems? You wanna take on mine?" he teased.

"Have you even thought about it? The whole . . . wolf thing? Do you know what you're gonna do?"

"I have a plan."

Tyler hadn't been able to think of much else. He didn't know what to expect, but he did know that whatever else happened he would be dangerous once he turned, and he didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Well?" Caroline looked at him. "What're you gonna do?"

"Kind of private," he balked.

"I'm student-council vice president, head of the prom committee. Not to mention, I single-handedly organized this town's clean-up campaign. You're really gonna turn down my help?"

Tyler felt a grin spread across his face. This girl was something else. She was so different than he'd thought she was.

"I'll tell you, but you've gotta promise not to let anyone know anything! Not what I'm doing and not where I'll be."

"Duh!" she snapped. "I wouldn't do that."  
\----------  
Stefan met Bonnie at the boardinghouse with Jeremy in tow. Jeremy had wanted to be a part of getting rid of Katherine and Stefan felt that Jeremy deserved to get his way; Katherine had gone after Jenna. Katherine was now stuck in the tomb, but Jeremy was now involved in everything and needed to be kept up to date on things.

Damon and Rebecca had gone to get blood from Robert. Damon was no longer supplying the council with vervain – he'd stopped because he'd been planning on compelling Robert to leave Mystic Falls with Chelsea, but had changed his mind. Still, Robert was vervain-free and able to be compelled; he wouldn't remember anything about today.

"I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine."

"How?" Jeremy asked. "It took both you and your Grams last time, and look what happened to her."

"I'm well aware of what happened, but I've learned a few new things. How will you get it?"

"She hasn't been feeding," Stefan said. "She's weaker. We're not."

"You wouldn't be underestimating her, would you?" Bonnie asked.

"It's a plan," Damon's voice came from the front of the house. "Is it perfect? What plan is?"

Stefan watched as Damon entered the room with a devastated Rebecca trailing behind him. Her eyes were red from crying and she didn't seem to be able to meet anyone's eyes.

"Let me do it," Jeremy said eagerly. "I've got my ring. I could get in, get out. No spells necessary."

"Gee, thanks, you sixteen-year-old child," Damon snapped. "Why didn't we think about that? Why are you even here?"

"Maybe I can help better the plan," Bonnie said and then to Stefan she said, "Do you have anything that belongs to Katherine?"

"It doesn't matter," Rebecca said. "Find my sister."

"Rebecca . . ." Stefan said.

"Chelsea is a baby, Stefan. Elena can wait."  
\----------  
Elena had gotten Rose to agree to take her to Richmond, and that's where they were now. Slater lived on the top floor of a nice apartment building, yet Slater didn't answer the door when Rose knocked.

"He's not home. Sorry," Rose said simply.

"We didn't come all the way out here for nothing," Elena said. "I know you can break it open."

Rose made a face at her, but did as she asked anyway. Elena made her way in along with Rose. A few feet inside was Slater. He was laid out on the floor, stake in his heart, and his body had mummified.

"I don't think he's gonna be much help."

Elena moved farther into the apartment and found an office type space with a computer on the desk.

"Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information," Elena said.

"Yeah. Probably to stop him from helping people like us." Rose sighed. "The guy was a vampire almanac. Knowing too much information just bit him in the butt."

"I'm sorry about Slater," Elena said sincerely.

She began rifling through what was on the desk and found a picture of Slater with some girl. Pale, black hair, red lips. Girlfriend, maybe?

"Any luck?" Rose asked.

"Um . . ." Elena began fiddling with the computer. "It's password-protected. I can't get in."

"Then this is pointless. Let's just go."

Suddenly, a small thud filled the air and both Elena and Rose looked around wondering what the noise had been.

"Stay here," Rose said.

Elena waited until she heard crying come from one of the rooms. Elena followed the sound. The girl from the picture was standing there crying in Rose's arms.  
\----------  
"This belonged to Katherine," Stefan said, coming down the stairs holding a photo of Katherine. "Found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers."

Bonnie had an ashtray in front of her and she placed the picture in it. She also had a map of Mystic Falls in front of her.

"Give me the blood," Bonnie said. "Chelsea first, right?"

Rebecca gave her a vial, which had been used to capture her dad's blood. All she'd really done was nick his wrist with her fangs and let the blood flow freely.

"What if she's not in Mystic Falls?" Rebecca asked.

"Then we'll widen the search. But I'm willing to bet whoever did this wants to get to you. They'll be here."

Rebecca looked at Damon, who nodded in agreement.

Bonnie poured a drop of the blood on the map and began chanting. Rebecca remembered Bonnie doing the same thing not too long ago to find Elena. The blood began to move toward the middle of Mystic Falls and it stopped near the apartment district. Someone who lived in an apartment had Chelsea. Was it a vampire?

"This is where she is?" Rebecca asked. "Right now?"

Bonnie nodded. "Yes. Chances are this is where she'll stay. We need to find out who has her and I'll do that after I do this thing for Stefan; it won't take but a minute." She looked at Stefan. "I'll need some water for this spell."

Stefan nodded and took off with vampire speed. It took only a few seconds to bring a glass of water back. Bonnie dipped her fingers in it and let the water drip onto the photo of Katherine.

"What will this do?" Damon asked as the photo burst into flames.

"I can turn the picture into ash. Blow the ashes on her and it'll incapacitate her for a minute or two. Long enough for you to get the stone and get out."

Rebecca noticed, however, that Bonnie's nose was already bleeding. Her witch friend wasn't strong enough to do all of this on her own.  
\----------  
"So, Matt's bumming pretty hard," Tyler said.

"I know," Caroline said. "It's better this way."

"I get it," Tyler said.

He and Caroline were walking toward the old slave quarters on the Lockwood property. He had a plan that involved locking himself in there on the full moon.

"You can't be honest with him and it's not fair to be with someone and not let them know who you really are. I get it."

Tyler began leading Caroline deeper into the woods and to the cellar. He was guessing this was where Mason had been heading the night his uncle had turned.

Tyler and Caroline walked through a doorway – the door had bars on them. The room could have been a cage.

"Did Mason tell you about his place?"

"Mason bolted before I triggered the curse," Tyler said, "but I found these."

These ended up being what looked like claw marks on the wall. They were old claw marks, too. Maybe his ancestors had also gone there to change.

"There are bolts and chains, too. I need new chains, but the bolts could still hold. I think that's what this place was used for. Full moons."

The two continued looking around until Caroline found a journal that had been wrapped in white cloth.

"August 31st, My body is changing. I'm edgy, angry, impatient. I get so mad, I black out and forget what I say or do. I'm not myself, not since Jimmy's death. What's happening to me?"

"He chronicled everything."

Tyler skipped around until he found one that was about the full moon. There was nothing written for a full moon, but there was, however, a computer disc. Maybe Mason had made a video after he'd become human again.  
\----------  
Back at the boardinghouse, after the picture of Katherine had turned to ash, Stefan, Damon, Rebecca, Jeremy, and Bonnie each had their own mission.

"So we gotta get the torches," Stefan said.

"Alaric's stake gun is in my trunk," Damon said. "Bonnie?"

"Go ahead," she said, pouring the ash onto the table. She had to make sure that none of the picture fragments remained. Everything had to be completely burned. "I'm almost done."

Damon put extra stakes in a cloth bag he was getting ready for their little excursion, and then he walked out of the room. Rebecca, however, stayed behind.

"Bonnie?" she said, going to stand by her witch friend. "I saw the blood earlier, from your nose. You're not strong enough. You probably shouldn't even do the spell to find the person who has Chelsea. I'll just go to the apartments and check until I find her."

"I'll be fine."

Jeremy looked like he was relieved Rebecca had brought this up. Maybe he had wanted to but had promised he wouldn't or something.

"You could get hurt," Jeremy said.

"And Elena could die," Bonnie countered. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"How will you be fine?" Rebecca asked. "What do you know now that you and your Grams didn't know before?"

"I . . . I learned how to channel another witch today. I've never channeled before; Grams did it for me last time. Now I know what to do."

"A'right," Jeremy said. "Okay, I'll, uh, get everything together. Just go get me something to put this in."

Bonnie smiled and went in search for something.

"There should be some plastic bags in the kitchen," Rebecca suggested, eyeing Jeremy and nodding once. She knew Jeremy wasn't letting Bonnie off that easy. He was up to something.

When Bonnie was far enough away, Jeremy took out a credit card and swiped some of the ash off of the table and into his wallet. Rebecca gave Jeremy a reassuring smile and then went out of the room to go outside but grabbed her car keys on the way.

Outside she went to the garage and opened her car door. Before she could get in the Charger, however, Damon appeared beside her.

"Where're you goin' Becca?" he asked tensely.

"You know where I'm going, Damon," she said. "Elena can wait. Katherine can wait. Everything stops for me until I get Chelsea back."

Rebecca knew that getting the moonstone away from Katherine so they could destroy it, or at least de-spell it was important. No moonstone, no doppelganger sacrifice. In the grand scheme of things, this moonstone thing was probably more important than one little girl, but that girl was Rebecca's sister and she was one of the most important things to Rebecca.

"I'm going with you," Damon said. "I was just waiting for you to say the word."

Rebecca felt relief flow through her and she handed Damon her keys. She didn't feel like driving.  
\----------  
In Richmond, Elena had just finished pouring hot tea into three mugs, and Rose was now sitting at the table with her.

"She found him a few minutes before we did."

"How is she?" Elena asked.

"Overreacting big time."

"Her boyfriend just died. There's no such thing as overreacting."

"Those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater," Rose said. "She was only dating him long enough to see if he would turn her."

Elena looked at the situation anew. This Alice girl wanted to be a vampire; her chances of getting what she wanted were slim to none. But the fact that she wasn't upset about Slater made what Elena planned on doing easier.

The brunette picked up a mug of tea and went to the pretending-to-grieve girl in the computer room.

"Thank you," Alice said. "You look really familiar. Did you know Slater?"

"Not personally, no," Elena said, thinking that Alice recognized her because Slater probably had pictures of Katherine in his files. "I just know that he kept detailed records of all of his vampire contacts and I was hoping that he could point me towards Klaus."

"Doubtful. Klaus doesn't want to be pointed out."

"Do you know Slater's computer password?"

"Are you seriously asking me that right now? I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart."

"I understand that. Do you know his password?"

"Who do you think you are?"

Alice began to turn away from Elena, but Elena grabbed her hand.

"What if I could convince Rose to turn you?"

Rose, who was still in the kitchen, glared at her. Elena knew that meant Rose didn't like that idea one bit.

"Would you show us his files then?" Elena asked.

Alice nodded slowly and got up to go to what had been Slater's computer. She messed around a bit until a message popped up.

"Someone's been on here. The hard drive is completely wiped out. Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything's backed up on our remote server."

Rose walked up behind Elena and whispered, "You know she's not going anywhere near my blood, right?"

"I know. She doesn't," Elena whispered back.

Both Elena and Rose now stood behind Alice, who was sitting in a chair in front of the computer. Alice pulled up the recent history on the computer and a bunch of links popped up.

"Slater was obsessed," Alice said. "Almost as much as me."

"What about that one?" Rose asked, pointing at the screen. "Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of e-mails about Elijah."

"I could . . . call him," Alice offered.

Elena nodded and picked the phone up off the desk, then handed it to Alice. "Tell him that we're trying to send a message to Klaus. The doppelganger's alive and she's ready to surrender."

"I knew I recognized you," Alice said, staring at Elena with open-mouthed shock.

"Get him the message, please," Elena said and began walking away to the other room. She was terrified now that she'd said what she wanted out loud. She couldn't risk everyone she cared about just to save her own life. She couldn't be that selfish.

"What're you doing?" Rose asked, following her into the room.

"I'm getting Klaus's attention."

"If Klaus knows you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you," Rose said. "Which is exactly what you wanted all along."

"It's either me or my family."

"So this whole charade was some suicide mission so that you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else."

Alice came in the room. "Cody is on his way, and he really wants to meet you."  
\----------  
Back in Mystic Falls, Jeremy had beat everyone else to the tomb, but no one knew because he'd told Stefan and Bonnie that he'd be a little late.

"The youngest Gilbert," Katherine said, standing at the mouth of the tomb. "This is an intriguing surprise."

"I'm here for the moonstone."

"Yeah, yeah, the moonstone. It's very popular today.

"Just give it to me."

"Naïve little Gilbert," Katherine said, sounding disappointed. "If you want it, you're gonna have to come here and get it."

Jeremy hadn't been expecting Katherine to be cooperative; it was against her nature, unless it served her – so he'd taken a few precautions. One being the stake shooter he had strapped to his arm. One stake blasted out and hit Katherine in the stomach. She gasped, bent over, and pulled it out. By that time, however, Jeremy had gotten the ash ready and was now blowing it in her face.

Katherine collapsed, unconscious now, and Jeremy made his way into the tomb. He searched Katherine for the stone first because he wouldn't have put it past her to keep it on her person, but she hadn't. Katherine had put it in the back of the tomb, as far back as the tomb allowed, but he found it.

He began running back toward the entrance, all the while wondering how one little rock could cause so much trouble.

At the entrance, Katherine was getting her bearings and, taken by surprise, Jeremy let her grab him. Just before Katherine sank her teeth into Jeremy's neck he was able to throw the moonstone out of her reach, outside the tomb where Katherine couldn't go.

Then there was nothing but pain.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three

"Sorry, I'm late," Bonnie said to Stefan as she approached the tomb. "I had to grab some supplies from home."

"It's okay. Whatever will make this work. Where's Jeremy?"

"He said he'd be here," she said. "Rebecca and Damon?"

"Chelsea," Stefan said.

"Right."

They made their way toward the entrance, but stopped when they saw the moonstone already outside the tomb.

"I hate to interrupt, but today has just been full of surprises."

Bonnie looked towards the voice, knowing it was Katherine. Jeremy was in the tomb with Katherine. How had that happened?

"Jer?"

"I'm sorry. I took some of the ashes."

Jeremy had an angry, bleeding, bite mark on his neck, and Katherine's mouth was covered in blood. She'd been feeding on Jeremy; the evidence was dripping down her chin and neck.

"Don't worry. I know that he's wearing his ring," Katherine said. "So no matter how many times I kill him, he'll just keep coming back for more. So . . . I'm gonna be in the back playing with my new little toy. And you guys just give me a holler when you've got the tomb open."

Katherine pushed Jeremy backwards and Bonnie stepped forward. Jeremy had played her. He'd never believed she was strong enough, so he'd done this for her. She had to get him out.  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon were just pulling up to the apartment complex that Bonnie had marked on the map on which she had done the locators spell. The apartment building was behind the local Food Lion store.

"Here we go," she said.

Damon didn't like how calm Rebecca was being. If he didn't know her so well, he would think she had shut off her emotions, but he did know her, and he could see the rage buried just beneath the surface. Whoever had Chelsea . . . Rebecca was going to kill them.

"We should go to each landlord," Damon said. "See if we find any familiar names in the system."

Rebecca nodded. "It's smart. Better than just going door to door, which is what I was going to do."

Rebecca got out of the car and waited for Damon to do the same. He could tell she was waiting for him to lead here. She was new to this still, and he had so much more experience.

"Come on," he said, vowing to himself to actually show her how to be a vampire. He'd really been meaning to, but with everything going on lately they hadn't really had time to practice. He wasn't even making sure she was feeding properly. He knew she was drinking from blood bags, but she hadn't been fresh feeding.

They went to the entrance of the building and Damon quickly found the landlord's apartment. A middle-aged woman opened the door when they knocked and Rebecca tensed. Damon placed his hand on her back to steady her. She wasn't rational when it came to her sister, so he didn't know what to expect.

"Do you have copies of your tenants' files here with you?" Damon asked, catching the woman's eyes and holding them while he used his compulsion to get her to answer the question truthfully.

"Yes," the woman said robotically.

"Then invite us in," Damon said.

The woman did as she was compelled to do, and Rebecca went in.

"Do you live alone?" she asked.

"No. My husband is at work."

"When will he be back?"

"After five."

That gave them about four hours to get what they needed – that was more than enough time to do what had to be done.

"Do you have any tenants that stand out? Weird or suspicious?" Damon asked.

Damon didn't know how Rebecca had been doing it, but she'd been using his compulsion to ask the lady questions and to get answers. He didn't mind it; he just didn't understand how it was happening.

"No."

"Any new ones?" he asked. "And where are those files?"

"A man and his son just moved in. A, uh, Jonas and Luka –"

Damon's phone rang before the lady could finish and he looked at the ID screen before answering.

"Not a good time, Rose."

"Don't be angry with me . . ." she said cautiously.

"Why? What'd you do?"

"You need to get to Richmond immediately."

Rebecca looked at him with narrowed eyes. She'd obviously been listening in. "What happened?"

"Rose? Tell me what's going on."

After Rose explained about taking Elena to Richmond to meet with Slater and everything else that followed Damon snapped his phone shut.

"Damn it, Elena!" He eyed Rebecca. "What d'you wanna do? I have to go; I can't send Stefan."

There was no way Stefan could take on an Original, not when he was on animal blood.

"Go," she said softly. "I've got this. I'm going to start with Luka and Dr. Martin. I'll be fine."

Damon hated having to leave her like this, especially since there was magic involved. Bonnie had told them about Jonas Martin and Luka, Dr. Martin's son – they were warlocks and he didn't want Rebecca facing them alone.

He wanted to stay and find Chelsea, but he couldn't send Stefan to an almost certain death.  
\----------  
Rebecca found the room that Luka and his dad were living in without having to go through the files because the landlady had offered it freely. Rebecca had compelled the woman to forget about her and Damon's visit and had quickly gone to look for the room number.

When she got there, she heard a male speaking.

"So how exactly does this spell work?"

Rebecca had never met Luka or his father, but she did know that they were warlocks because of Bonnie having found out.

"Give me your hand," another male voice said.

These males were older, Rebecca believed. Neither sounded young enough to be a teenager, anyway, so she assumed that neither of them was Luka.

She smelled blood, suddenly, and figured that the man who had said, "Give me your hand," had cut the other man's hand.

"Place it here." There was a pause. "Now take my hand, close your eyes, relax your mind, and look for her."

Rebecca heard some chanting going on, but she closed her eyes and focused on every sound in the apartment. There was one human adult – the warlock – and one vampire – the other man – whose heart was beating slower than normal. Then she focused on another heartbeat. She knew it was a baby's heartbeat – the beat was faster than an adult's, and it belonged to her sister. She would recognize that beat anywhere.

"You saw her, didn't you?" the warlock, Dr. Martin, said.

"I know exactly where she is."

Rebecca knew that voice too, though she didn't know from where.

"Before I leave . . . I believe you have a visitor."

Rebecca froze. She guessed that meant that the vampire had heard her.  
\----------  
"We can't wait. We have to get him outta there," Bonnie said. She had wanted to wait for Rebecca and Damon, but she couldn't anymore. She knew Rebecca and Damon wouldn't show up at the tomb unless Chelsea was safe; maybe they hadn't found her yet.

"She's fed. She has her strength back," Stefan said.

He'd been pacing back and forth ever since they had found out Jeremy was in the tomb with Katherine.

"We still have what's left of the ash," Bonnie reminded him. "Do you think you can get close enough?"

"I don't have any choice."

"It's gonna take me some time," Bonnie admitted.

"Just get me in there as soon as you can."  
\----------  
"Hello, Miss Stone," came the familiar voice as the door was opened. "Nice to see you again."

Rebecca found she couldn't move from her spot outside the door. Elijah, who Damon had staked, was in the Martin's apartment.

"Elijah," she whispered.

She had remembered everything about him now – or her time with him, anyway. He'd been nice and had saved her from werewolves before she'd even known werewolves existed. He'd saved her from vampires too. She had betrayed Katherine for him – or she would have, had she been given the chance.

How was he here? She'd seen his body turn gray and all when Damon had killed him – or she thought Damon had killed him.

"Don't be rude, Dr. Martin. Invite her in. You do have her sister here; she probably just wants her back. Isn't that right, Miss Stone?"

"Why is she here in the first place?" Rebecca seethed. Now that she'd been brought back to the present by Elijah mentioning Chelsea, she wanted to know why Elijah and Jonas had her there.

Who had taken her? Elijah or Dr. Martin. Either way, what did they want with her? And why wasn't she crying? Chelsea didn't know either of these men, so why wasn't she crying?

Much to Rebecca's dismay, Dr. Martin did let her in. She didn't waste time getting to what she wanted. She followed the sound of Chelsea's heartbeat to a room in the back.

Chelsea was unharmed and asleep. She must've felt safe, at least, or she wouldn't have been able to sleep.

"Maybe Bonnie isn't the best baby-sitter. It was quite easy to snatch Chelsea out from under her nose."

"Why? What was the point?" Rebecca asked Elijah as she picked up her sister. "To scare me to death?"

"No, that wasn't my intention. She's no longer empathic, by the way. Jonas removed that particular ability."

"What? Why did you do that?"

"That was what you wanted, was it not?"

"Well, yes, but Bonnie was –"

"Bonnie Bennett is busy right now. Dr. Martin was available. No harm came to your sister; I made sure of that."

"So how was school?" Rebecca heard Dr. Martin say from the other room.

"Riveting," another, male, voice said. There was a pause and a gasp.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Martin said.

"Nothin'."

Rebecca turned to Elijah. "Who is that?"

"Luka. Dr. Martin's son. He was with Bonnie when I snatched baby Chelsea."

Chelsea, who was awake now, reached for Elijah, but Rebecca turned away from him. She didn't want Chelsea having anything to do with Elijah until they found out what he wanted.  
\----------  
Caroline and Tyler had just gotten to Caroline's house and were setting up her laptop so they could plug in the flash drive Mason had left with his journal.

The only file on the flash drive was a video, so Tyler clicked on it and a screen popped up.

September 15th,

Two hours from the first full moon since I triggered the curse.

"He taped his first transformation," Tyler said.

Mason seemed to be in a garage. There were tools and shelves and a concrete floor.

"Um . . ." Caroline grabbed the journal and flipped to September 16th since there was nothing for the 15th. "He – he wrote about everything the next day."

Caroline began reading from the journal. "I chose the garage. I could deadbolt the door. It was far from the door, so no one could hear. I bolted hooks to the floor for the carabiners."

She paused. "What, like for mountain climbing?" she asked.

"Retractable cables," Tyler said, stopping at a point in the video where Mason was drinking something that seemed to be choking him. "What's he doing?"

Caroline looked at the journal again.

"It's wolfsbane. It says . . . "I diluted wolfsbane with water to weaken myself, but I could barely get it down without puking. It felt like I was drinking battery acid. Over an hour passed. Nothing happened. It got so quiet, I could hear my own blood pumping, and that's when –"

A shout came from the video and both Tyler and Caroline's eyes turned to the screen. Mason's body was contorting; his bones were beginning to break.

"I kept thinking I would black out and not feel it, but I did. I . . . I felt all of it."

Mason screamed again, this time for help. All the while, Caroline kept thinking about Tyler having to go through that.

"How long is it?" she asked Tyler.

"We're three hours in. Four hours. Five hours," Tyler said as he fast forwarded through the video. "How long does this last? I can't – I can't do that."

Tyler stopped the video and stood up. He began to pace.

"Caroline, whatever that was, I can't go through that."

"You know what?" Caroline said. "I don't think we should watch this or read anymore."

"Why? What'd you read?"

"There's a reason why it's called a curse, Tyler. But he did say that the transformation speeds up over time, so if you can just get through this first time, then –"

"Why're you helping me?" Tyler blurted out. "Why do you care? We've never been friends before."

"That's not true. I've known you my entire life, Tyler."

"But we've never been close. Not like this."

"I don't know. You just seem like you – like you kind of need it. And I was alone when I turned. I had no control over my body, or my urges, and . . . I killed somebody. I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you to be alone."  
\----------  
"What is she doing here?" Luka asked as Rebecca walked into the living room with Chelsea in her arms.

"She wanted her sister back," Elijah said. "She came about a half-hour ago."

"You said you were leaving," Rebecca said to Elijah. "Where're you going?"

"To Richmond," he answered.

"Elena," Rebecca whispered. "You still want Elena."

"I don't wish to harm Elena," he said. "You're welcome to come with me and see. I would say leave Chelsea here, but I know you won't."

"But I will come with you."

Rebecca didn't know what kind of car she'd been expecting Elijah to be driving, but a new Lexus sure hadn't been it.

Elijah opened the door to the passenger seat for her and she got in. She didn't have a car seat for Chelsea so she just held Chelsea in her lap.

"Elijah," she said, once the Original had sit down in the driver's seat. "Please don't hurt Damon. I know he –"

"Tried to kill me?"

"Yes," she whispered. "But he . . . you were after Elena. I'm still not convinced you don't wish her harm."

"What if I give you my word? On both counts?"

Rebecca didn't know. She had trusted him in 1864 and he had kept his word. She had entrusted him with her life, but she didn't know if she could trust him with Damon's or Elena's life.  
\----------  
Elena had just stepped out of the kitchen of Slater's apartment when she heard, "What're you doin' here?"

She spun around quickly and found Damon there glaring at her.

"What're you doing here?" she asked back.

Damon couldn't be here. No one knew she was here . . . unless . . . Maybe Bonnie had had a vision. But still, he couldn't be here. He would ruin everything. He would keep her from –

"I'm sorry, Elena," Rose said from behind her.

Elena looked at her and it clicked. "You called him? You said that you understood."

"She lied. Come on, we're leaving."

"No." She couldn't leave. She had to be here for whoever was going to come for her.

"I said, 'we're leaving'." Damon added emphasis to the last word like he thought it would make her react differently.

"I'm not going with you."

"You do not get to make decisions anymore."

"When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me. Now, this . . . this is my decision."

"Who's gonna save your life while you're out making decisions?"

"You're not listening, Damon. I don't want to be saved. Not if it means that Klaus is going to kill every single person that I love."

Damon looked at her through narrowed eyes. He understood, she knew he did. He'd give up his life for Rebecca, so he knew what it meant to be self-sacrificing; why wouldn't he just go away and let her save everyone.

"Get out the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself."

"No."

Damon grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

"Damon, I said no!"

She swung her fist to hit him, but he caught her hand before she could reach his cheek. He didn't squeeze too hard, but he did lean forward threateningly.

"Don't ever do that again," he said softly. He let her go and said, "I'm going to go compel the human that's here and then we are leaving."  
\----------  
Back at the tomb in Mystic Falls, Bonnie was still working on the spell. She was using the tags she hadn't returned to Luka so that she could channel him. The fire from the torches was burning brightly and she could feel magic in the air.

"You've gotta stop her, she's not strong enough," Jeremy said.

He and Katherine had come to the entrance of the tomb because Katherine wanted to know what was going on with the spell.

Bonnie tried to block the noise from the flames and the conversation between Katherine, Stefan, and Jeremy.

"Bonnie!" she heard Stefan say, "Bonnie!"

Suddenly her connection with Luka was broken and she fell to the ground. She faded into unconsciousness within seconds.

When she woke up, she felt Stefan's hands on her shoulders and heard him asking if she was okay

"It didn't work," she said weakly, letting Stefan help her to her feet. "I'm not strong enough. Even with help, I can't do it."

"That's too bad," Katherine said. "And I'm still hungry."

Katherine shoved an already injured Jeremy into the wall and opened her mouth wide. Before Bonnie could react, Stefan ran into the tomb and shoved Jeremy out toward Bonnie. He landed right in front of her and she wrapped her arms around him. She didn't miss the satisfied grin that was on Katherine's face.

Stefan was locked in the tomb with Katherine now. Maybe that had been Katherine's plan all along.  
\----------  
"Time to go," Damon said, coming out of the human girl's bedroom. "Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day."

He went toward Elena and Rose, who were both on the couch in the living room, but stopped when he heard the front doors open. Three men walked in as if they owned the place.

"We're here to meet the doppelganger."

"Thank you for coming," Elena said, standing up.

She tried to go past Damon, but he grabbed her before she could take more than a few steps.

"I will break your arm," he said, daring her to move again. He looked at the three men and said, "There's nothing for you here."

Suddenly the third guy, the one who had come in last, was dead on the ground. His heart had been ripped out by someone who had come in who wasn't a part of the group.

Elijah.

Rose flashed out of the room immediately.

"I killed you," Damon said. "You were dead."

"For centuries now," Elijah said calmly.

Elijah came in and looked at the other two that had been part of the three, and smiled. Then Damon heard two heartbeats that he knew very well. Rebecca and Chelsea were there too. Not in the apartment, but right outside in the hallway. How had they gotten there?

"I'm Elijah," the Original vampire told the other two men that had come looking for Elena.

"We were going to bring her to you, for Klaus," one of them said, pointing at Elena. "She's the doppelganger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus would wanna see her."

"Does anyone else know that you're here?"

"No."

"Well, then you have been incredibly helpful."

Elijah ripped both men's hearts out and the men fell to the floor; their hearts soon joined them there.

Damon got ready to fight the Original, but Elijah just looked at him before turning away and running out.

"Damon?" a hesitant voice that was Rebecca's called out. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he said, relief filling him. "Chelsea's okay?"

"Yeah. Elijah had her . . . and the Martins." He heard her sigh. "She's not empathic anymore. Jonas removed her ability completely. I still don't want her seeing what's in there."

"Agreed."

Damon didn't want Chelsea seeing three vampires with their hearts ripped out either.

"Let's go home," Damon said, grabbing onto Elena's arm and dragging her behind him. Once outside the room, Damon searched out Rebecca and Chelsea.

"How did you get here?" he asked Rebecca.

"Elijah. I was invited into the Martin's apartment and found out Elijah was coming here. I wasn't going to risk him coming here on his own. I didn't know what he was going to do."

Rebecca looked at Elena then. "You promised me a day, Elena. You lied to me."

"I know," Elena said unapologetically. "I can't believe Elijah's alive. Why do you think he killed those vampires and let us go?"

"If I had a dollar for every time some evil vampire surprised me . . ." Damon said.

"I asked him to leave you guys alone," Rebecca said. "I don't know if that meant anything to him or if he left you because he wanted to, but . . . he gave me his word that no harm would come to either of you."

She looked at Elena again. "What you did today was incredibly stupid. What were you –"

"Actually, the only thing that was stupid was that I got caught," Elena said. "I don't question why you guys try to save me. You shouldn't question why I would save all of you."

"I don't question it, Elena! But calling out Klaus is not the way to go about it. Let us try to save you first. I mean, did it ever occur to you that this might not be about just you? You called attention to yourself, but Klaus doesn't only want you, Elena! He wants Caroline and Bonnie and Tyler. If he comes here because you did this, their deaths will be your fault."

Rebecca would've continued yelling at Elena if Chelsea hadn't started crying. This had nothing to do with being empathic. If Elijah had been telling the truth, Chelsea would no longer be bothered by other people's feelings. That didn't mean she wasn't perceptive.

Damon knew that because Rebecca was upset, Chelsea was getting upset. Not to mention, all the yelling was probably scaring her.

"Rebecca . . ." Elena said. She had tears in her eyes now.

"Don't," Rebecca said softly, now beginning to pay attention to Chelsea. "Let's just go."  
\----------  
Back in Mystic Falls, Bonnie and Jeremy had just walked into his house and were headed to the medicine cabinet so he could get a large bandage to cover the wound on his neck.

"I'm home, okay? I don't need an escort to my room," he said to her.

"I don't know," Bonnie replied. "Between here and upstairs, there's still time for you to do something stupid."

"I already feel bad. I don't need you to berate me."

"Stefan is stuck in there, and I don't know how to get him out," Bonnie exclaimed. "What should I be doing?"

"You should admit that you never should've tried this in the first place," he said firmly.

"I didn't have a choice, Jeremy!"

Bonnie was a witch. She couldn't help it; it ran in her family. She had magic running through her veins and she used that magic to help people.

"Yeah, well, neither did I."

"Well . . . why did you have to get involved?"

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt," he admitted freely.

"Jeremy . . ."

Bonnie didn't really know what to say. He was Elena's brother and . . . there was so much that could go wrong with this. She could die at any moment and it wouldn't be fair to start anything with Jeremy when things were so hectic.

"You can't feel that way about me."

"Don't do that. Don't act like this is one sided, like . . . like I'm some kid that has a crush on his sister's friend. You could've died today."

"And you almost did," she said. If Jeremy hadn't been wearing his ring . . .

"That was a chance I was willing to take."

Just then the front door opened and the moment between them was broken. Rebecca, Damon, Chelsea, and Elena came in.

Rebecca stopped in her tracks when she saw the blood on Jeremy's bandage; the wound was so bad it was bleeding through the white of the cloth. To be honest, she'd probably smelled it first and then searched out what was making her vampire senses come to the surface.

"Jer?"

"I'm okay," he said. "But . . ."

Bonnie watched as Jeremy told them about Stefan and as Elena began to panic.

"Stefan's in the tomb?" she asked. "How could you let this happen?"

"What're you talking about? I was too busy saving you from your crazy kamikaze mission," Damon said.

"You didn't even have to go after the moonstone in the first place."

"It was the right call, Elena!"

"Right call? How is any of this the right call?"

"Guys! Stop fighting!" Rebecca almost yelled, which caused Chelsea to start crying. "We'll find a way to get him out, okay? But standing here arguing about it will not change the fact that he's in there. He'll be fine for now. Katherine won't kill him, so he can wait for morning, okay? Everybody just needs to recharge from today."

Bonnie thought it was odd yet admirable that Rebecca's voice held the right amount of authority to make everyone pay attention to her.

Bonnie decided she'd leave then; Rebecca had it under control and she needed to put space between herself and Jeremy.  
\----------  
Elena had wanted to see Stefan, and Damon and Rebecca hadn't wanted her doing something stupid like going into the tomb, so Damon had gone with her and Rebecca had stayed with Jeremy.

"Your wound is terrible," Rebecca said lightly. "Do you want me to heal you?"

"That wouldn't involve feeding from me, would it? I'm pretty drained already."

"I don't have to drink from you to heal you."

Rebecca bit into her wrist and offered it to Jeremy. She kept an ear out for any unwanted visitors; Jenna was home, but she was upstairs and from the sound of her heartbeat, she was asleep.

Jeremey gently brought her wrist to his mouth and began to suck. Rebecca felt the familiar intimacy she felt when she drank from someone or allowed someone to drink from her. The feeling that whoever it was belonged to her; she was responsible for them now because they were her humans.

She watched as the scabs fell off of Jeremy's skin and the skin healed without scars. This was one of the things Rebecca loved about being a vampire. She could heal people with just a little of her blood.

She pulled away when she thought he'd had enough.

"Better?" He nodded. "Good. Now, don't die tomorrow, okay?"

"Gee, thanks," Jeremy quipped. "I'll try my best."  
\----------  
"Of all the idiot plans, Stefan . . ." Damon said as he saw Stefan come to the mouth of the tomb. "I'll find a way to get you out."

Elena shook her head. Stefan was locked in the tomb with Katherine, who couldn't be trusted. Katherine wanted Stefan and she was used to getting everything she wanted.

"That's all right. I'll, uh . . . I'll handle myself. Bonnie has the moonstone. Try to figure out how to de-spell it."

"What? No," Elena said. "We –"

"You martyr yourself into a tomb, and I get partnered with a semi-competent witch. Wonderful."

Stefan scoffed while Elena glared at them both. They were acting as if she weren't there.

"Just keep Elena safe; worry about me later."

"Stefan –" Elena began, but Stefan had already begun going back into the darkness of the tomb. "Damon? We need to get him out of there."

"I'm aware of that, Elena, but we need to keep you safe, too."

"Well, now that you have the moonstone back, what're you gonna do with it?" she asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

"Right now, it's what's binding the Sun and Moon curse. If Bonnie can find a way to remove the spell from the stone, the stone becomes useless."

"And according to Katherine, Klaus becomes vengeful," Elena reminded him.

"Maybe. If he finds out."

Why couldn't Damon realize that the good of the many outweighed the good of the one? She didn't want to be the cause of Klaus coming to Mystic Falls and creating a blood bath. That was one of the reasons she'd wanted to meet the vampires in Richmond.  
\----------  
Rebecca met Damon back at the boardinghouse. She hadn't wanted to leave Jeremy or Elena alone that night, but she had other things she needed to do. Things like talk to Caroline about Tyler turning into a werewolf – the full moon was only a night away. That's why as soon as she got home she called Caroline, who answered almost immediately.

The blond told Rebecca about wanting to help Tyler lock himself up before the full moon could turn him.

"Care, you know you shouldn't stay with him even if he is going to be locked up in the cellar. He could kill you with one bite."

"I know, but I need to make sure he chains himself up enough."

Rebecca looked at Damon, who shrugged. "It's her choice. And it's one less thing we need to worry about. Bonnie has the moonstone and she's going to try and de-spell it. Then she's going to find a way to get Stefan out of the tomb."

"Actually, we need to worry about keeping Elena away from it," Rebecca said. "If she's anything like me, she'll do anything to get to him. I know if it were you in there . . ."

"Right," Damon interrupted. "Get Bonnie to focus on that instead."


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning Rebecca took Chelsea with her when she went to Bonnie's. Bonnie had never invited Rebecca inside the house, so Rebecca knocked and waited for Bonnie to open the door.

When Bonnie did, she looked around suspiciously.

"Damon's not here," Rebecca said. "Uh . . . he's going to the tomb. We need a favor. We need you to help keep Elena away from the tomb, um . . . if you're strong enough."

"You on your way to Elena's?" Bonnie asked.

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah, you wanna come?"

"Yeah, just . . . um . . . you don't have to wait outside. You can come in. I have to get some things."

Rebecca smiled tentatively. "Oh. Okay."

Rebecca went inside and shut the door quietly. Bonnie went upstairs and Rebecca waited patiently on the couch. While she was waiting, Chelsea began walking toward the stairs, but Rebecca didn't care. It wasn't like Chelsea knew how to climb yet.

Only Chelsea did begin to climb the stairs. Well, crawl up them, anyway.

"Chels," Rebecca said. "Be careful."

Rebecca got up from the couch and went to stand behind her too-independent little sister. She didn't have to wait long for Bonnie to come back down the stairs. Bonnie had her purse in one hand and the moonstone and her Grimiore in the other.

About ten minutes later Bonnie, Rebecca and Chelsea were at Elena's house. Bonnie had done a spell to lock Elena in the house, but Elena didn't know about it yet. They wouldn't tell her unless they had to.

They were still trying to figure out how to take the spell off the moonstone.

"Bonnie, can't this wait?" Elena asked. "Stefan is stuck in the tomb with Katherine. We've gotta get him out."

"Stefan wants me to focus on this," Bonnie said, emphasizing the stone.

"Well, don't listen to him. He thinks that he's protecting me, but he's wrong."

"I'm taking Stefan's side with this one. We're not gonna let you get sacrificed in some creepy sacrifice ritual."

Suddenly the bedroom door was being opened and Jeremy was stepping inside the room.

"What're you guys arguing about?" he asked.

"We're not arguing about anything," Bonnie said, giving Elena a pointed look. "I need coffee."

Rebecca watched as Bonnie put the moonstone in her purse and got off the bed.

Bonnie left the room, but Rebecca, Chelsea, and Jeremy stayed with Elena. Rebecca noticed that Jeremy still had the bandage over his neck where the bite wounds would've been if she hadn't healed him. She assumed it was so no one would ask him any questions.

"Why're you on some suicide mission?" Jeremy asked his sister.

"I'm trying to prevent everyone else from being hurt."

"So bringing Klaus the moonstone so you can get yourself killed is okay?"

Both Jeremy and Rebecca left then with Chelsea walking with the help of Rebecca's hand. When they reached the stairs, Chelsea let Rebecca go and sat down. She began butt-scooting down the stairs.

The going was so slow that Elena ended up passing them.

"Where're you going?" Rebecca asked.

"Um . . . to see Stefan," she said, but her voice sounded off. She wasn't telling the truth.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"You took the moonstone," Jeremy said. "I can see the indent in your pocket."

Elena glared at Jeremy. "Okay, yes, I did. Klaus killed Katherine's entire family just because she crossed him. I can't let that happen."

Rebecca picked Chelsea up and followed Elena to the front door. She had to see what Elena's reaction would be when she realized what Bonnie had done.

Elena was confused at first. From what Rebecca knew of the spell, Elena would feel like the air was too thick to get through.

"Bonnie, what'd you do?" Elena called out and Bonnie came through the kitchen and into the living room, a cup of coffee in hand.

"It's for the best, Elena."

"Yup," Rebecca said. "If you had given us the time like you'd promised yesterday, we'd trust you to go see Stefan, but you lied, so . . ."

Elena shook her head and stomped up the stairs like a five-year-old having a tantrum.  
\----------  
"You trapped her in the house?" was Stefan's response when Damon told him what he had asked Bonnie to do to Elena.

"It's for the best. Trust me," Damon said. "It's the only way I know to keep her at home and not on some suicide mission. Besides, Rebecca's with her."

Damon stepped forward and showed Stefan the overnight bag he had brought.

"Care package," Damon said. "Candles, lanterns, and lunch."

Lunch happened to just be a water bottle filled with blood. Damon was surprised when Stefan didn't reach for it. Stefan had to be starving.

"If you give that to me, I'm just gonna have to share it with her."

Katherine stepped out of the shadows and Damon glared at her. She smiled his way.

"You know, you two are awfully calm considering Klaus will hunt you down and kill you if you mess up his little plan," she said.

"I've been dead before. I got over it," Damon said and then looked at Stefan. "Once we deal with this moonstone, we'll figure out a way to get you out."

"No, don't worry about me. Just make sure Elena's safe."

Damon nodded but didn't listen to his brother. Stefan was doing his usual younger brother martyr thing. Stefan and Elena could start a self-sacrificing committee if they wanted to.

It wouldn't solve anything, but there it was.  
\----------  
"So now I'm playing historical society hostess to some writer who's doing this book on Virginia," Jenna said to Ric, who had asked her out to lunch. Things had been going great with them ever since Ric had gotten closure by going up to Duke with Elena. Elena had wanted to find out about her birth mother, and Ric had needed the closure.

"It's lame, but Carol Lockwood played the dead husband card and said she was too busy to deal. Plus, my sister kept most of the archives, so there you have it."

"Mm."

Ric saw Tyler walk in and go to Caroline, who had been at the Grill alone since Ric had gotten there with Jenna.

Tyler had a duffel bag with him and he looked worried – which he should be since he was going to be changing into a wolf that night.

Tyler and Caroline left together and Ric tried to enjoy the rest of his lunch with Jenna.  
\----------  
After leaving the tomb, Damon went to Elena's and walked right in because the door wasn't locked.

From the sounds everyone was making, Jeremy was in the kitchen, and Rebecca, Chelsea, and Elena were in the living room. Bonnie must've left already.

Rebecca was sitting on the couch with Elena, who was having a grump fest, and Chelsea was playing with the TV remote. She seemed to know that the buttons did something even if she didn't know what.

Elena eyed him murderously.

"Oh, come on, pouty. Give me two points for ingenuity."

"Do you think this is funny?" Elena asked.

"Yes, Elena. I find hilarity in the lengths I have to go to repeatedly save your life."

"Hm. What did Stefan say about this?"

"We had a good laugh," Damon said.

"And what did he say about Elijah still being alive?"

"Yeah, that . . . I didn't tell him."

Damon sat down between Elena and Rebecca and he put an arm around Rebecca. Chelsea waddled over and began climbing up Damon's leg. When she got on his lap she stood up, one foot on each of his legs and grabbed his neck.

"Ug! Ug!" she squealed.

Elena giggled, but Damon could tell she was trying to stay mad about being stuck in the house.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Well, A, he can't do anything about it, and B, . . . What I just said."

"Day! Ug!"

"I think she wants a hug," Jeremy said from the archway to the living room.

"She does?" Damon asked, looking down at the girl on his lap. "Is that what you want? I thought you were calling me ugly."

Chelsea spread her arms out wide and said, "Ug."

Damon wrapped his arms around her. "Happy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good." He looked at Rebecca. "Where's Bonnie?"

"Thought she was meeting you," Jeremy said.

"No. She's on moonstone duty, and we're on Elena patrol," Rebecca said.

"And who's on Tyler Lockwood and the full moon?" Jeremy asked.

"Vampire Barbie asked me if she could handle it and I said 'Why not?' I figured if she screwed up, he'd bite her, and then I'd be rid of two of my problems."

Damon grinned at Rebecca and she rolled her eyes. She knew he was just messing with her.

As much as he didn't like Caroline, he didn't want her dead. The reason he was letting Caroline deal with the wolf situation was that he knew if Tyler was left to deal with this transition on his own, Rebecca would probably volunteer herself as wolf helper and that wasn't happening.

"Hold on a second," Elena said. "Tonight's the full moon?"

"Yup, but you're too absorbed with all your suicidal tendencies to notice," Damon answered.

A ringing came from Damon's jeans pocket and he had to get up to get it, so he put Chelsea on Rebecca's lap.

"What?" he answered, knowing the person on the other line was Alaric Saltzman.

"Sheriff Forbes has officially declared Mason Lockwood a missing person."

"What? Why?"

Rebecca looked at him and Damon met her eyes. He didn't care that she was listening in.

"A girl from Florida showed up on the Lockwood's doorstep looking for Mason."

"What girl?"

"I don't know, but she's sure got everyone in a tizzy."

"That's not good. Where are you?"

"I'm at the Grill," Ric answered.

"I'm on my way," Damon said.

Damon saw that Rebecca was biting her lip and looking down at Chelsea. Damon could tell that she wanted to come with him, but she didn't want to leave Chelsea alone in the Gilbert home. He didn't blame her; Elena was a danger magnet.

"Change of plans," Damon said, looking at Jeremy. "You babysit."

Jeremy plopped down on the couch, spreading himself over Rebecca and Elena's lap, careful not to actually land on Chelsea.

"Hey, you know, you should get out, enjoy the sun," Damon quipped in Elena's direction. "Oh, wait. You can't."

Jeremy laughed and Elena threw a pillow at Damon's head. Damon ducked, so the pillow didn't hit him.

He watched as Elena pushed Jeremy off the couch. The dark-haired boy didn't have far to fall, so Damon knew Jeremy couldn't hurt himself.

Damon caught Rebecca's eye and he smiled sympathetically at her. He knew Rebecca missed being able to be in on the action, but he also knew she wouldn't trade Chelsea for anything, not even if it meant not being able to help out physically.  
\----------  
"So, who showed up on your doorstep?" Caroline asked Tyler as they got out of her car. She had driven them to the ruins of the old Lockwood cellar/slave quarters. It was the same place Caroline's mom had tortured Damon and Stefan for information.

"I don't know," Tyler answered. "She said her name was Jules. She's a friend of Mason's. She said he never showed up in Florida."

"You know, maybe he just stopped to go surf somewhere. Isn't that Mason's whole thing?"

"Maybe. This girl just seemed to think he would've called."

"I'm sure he's okay," Caroline said even though she knew Mason wasn't okay at all because Mason was dead. Damon had killed him because Mason had been working with Katherine and because he'd attacked Stefan and Rebecca; Mason had attacked Damon, too, but Damon cared more about his girlfriend and brother than he cared about himself.

"Yeah. Anyway, let's do this."  
\----------  
After getting off the phone with Damon, Ric had seen Jenna off and he had moved to a different table so he could have full view of the entrance. He didn't want Damon sneaking up on him. Ric trusted Damon, to a point – enough to be friends with him – but Damon was still a vampire.

Instead of seeing Damon come in, Ric saw a beautiful blond woman come and start questioning people about Tyler Lockwood.

"Ah. Mason's mystery woman," Damon said, sitting right beside Ric.

"Yup. Where is Mason, anyway? And how did you get in here without me seeing you?"

"I'm a vampire, figure it out. And Mason is decomposing in his truck."

"Hm. So, you think she's a werewolf?" Ric asked.

"Well, I hope not, seeing as it's a full moon and all, Ric. We should definitely find out."

Damon took out a small packet of some kind of plant. Ric was pretty sure it was wolfsbane, but he wasn't positive.

"You wanna do this here?" Ric asked. "If it works, people will wonder what's wrong with her."

Damon shook his head. "Werewolves don't want people to know what they are. Trust me, she won't make a scene."  
\----------  
Back at the Lockwood estate, Tyler was setting up all the chains and things he needed for the full moon.

"Tell me you brought the instruction manual," Caroline said.

"Tell me you brought the wolfsbane," he countered.

"Yes," the blond said promptly. "Um . . . not an easy herb to find."

Caroline dug around in her bag and brought out a small snack bag that had a long sprig of a yellow flower – or herb was probably the better word.

Tyler reached out to grab it, but as soon as he touched it he jerked his hand back. The plant had burned him.

"I've got water bottles in my bag. You can mix it in there," he told the blond.

"Okay." Caroline went to do as she'd been told.

"The guy at the hardware store said this setup was rated up to five thousand pounds."

"Is that more than a werewolf can pull?"

"I have no idea."

Just to be sure the chains were set right, he began pulling on all the ones he'd already set up.

"Hey, Tyler . . . how're you doing?"

"Still human."

Tyler took his shirt off and threw it to the side. He was going to keep his shorts on because Caroline was there, but he didn't know what would happen if he changed with his clothes on.

"Oh, you're not gonna get naked, are you?" Caroline exclaimed.

"What should I wear? I don't think it's like the Hulk where I get to keep my pants."

Tyler shook his head as Caroline turned around so she wouldn't have to see him.  
\----------  
"Okay, I'm at the apartment," Bonnie said into the phone. She was talking to Rebecca. "What now?"

"Well, knock, of course," Rebecca said. "Be cool, be natural."

"Okay. I'll call you when I'm done so you'll know it's okay to go home."

Bonnie hung up and put her phone away. She knocked and Luka opened the door.

"Hi," she said. She held up the dog tags she'd gotten from him the other day. He snatched them from her hand.

"I don't know what makes me more upset – that I showed you how to channel . . . or that you almost killed me with it."

"Luka, I am so sorry. I wouldn't have done what I did if it weren't really important. It's just there're things that I –"

"I forgive you."

Bonnie just stared at him as he moved aside to let her in. Was he playing with her? She'd almost killed him and she was forgiven just like that? It had to be a trick – he and his dad were working with Elijah.

"I'm assuming you're not just here to apologize. Come in."

Bonnie walked into the apartment and looked around. There were so many different books in here.

"Wow. There's so much stuff." Luka held up a particular book. "What is that?"

"They're all Grimoires. Witches all over the world have collected their spells in Grimoires, but over the centuries most of them have gotten lost. My dad is obsessed with finding them and making sure our family's heritage stays intact."

"These can't all be your family's," Bonnie said.

"Well, all witches are family. We're all bonded together by a code of loyalty to help each other."

"So that's why you've been so nice to me."

"That's one reason."

Bonnie smiled. "Listen, do you know how to break the bond between a talisman and a spell?"

"Uh, well, that depends because spells are unique and very specific. But, uh, I'm sure that we can figure it out."

Both Bonnie and Luka got to work after that.  
\----------  
Back at the Grill, Ric had just sat down beside the girl in question. He'd greeted her warmly and pretended to be drunk. Damon was watching all this from a distance so he would know when he should come in.

Ric offered to buy the woman a drink, but the woman said no and Ric kept offering. It was Damon's cue to cut in.

"Is this guy bothering you?" Damon asked, coming to sit beside the girl.

"I am not bothering anybody," Ric said.

"Good. Well, do it elsewhere." Then to the girl he said, "Don't worry, he's harmless. He's sort of the town drunk, and when we get tired of him, we just call him a cab and send him to wherever he came from."

While Damon was talking, the bartender brought both of Ric's drinks to the counter and Ric put wolfsbane in the girls' drink.

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not here," Ric said, placing the wolfsbane-laced drink in front of the girl.

Ric looked hurt when Damon said, "Why are you here?"

The teacher picked up his drink and walked away, leaving Damon with the maybe-werewolf. He sure hoped she wasn't. They didn't need any more problems than they already had.  
\----------  
Back at the Gilbert residence, Rebecca was helping Jenna go through some of the historical things she had from Elena's parents.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Elena asked as she came down the stairs. She had been up in her room sulking about being trapped in the house.

"Oh, perfect timing," Jenna said, grabbing a box and handing it to Elena.

"What is this stuff?"

"Your mom's files from the historical society. I got roped into helping Ms. Lockwood. And by roped, I mean very excited to participate."

A knock came at the door and Rebecca's back stiffened. She knew who was at the door, and she didn't want anyone but herself opening it.

She rushed to the door and pulled the door open.

"Hello, Elijah," she said. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, Mr. Smith, I wasn't expecting you tonight," Jenna said, coming up behind Rebecca.

"I wanted to see with whom I'd be working. I wasn't aware Miss Stone was helping out."

"Elijah's in town doing research on Mystic Falls," Jenna said for the benefit of Elena and Rebecca. There was no way she could know that both girls already knew Elijah. "You're welcome to come in and rummage through this stuff. Or Elena and I could help you load it into your car."

"Yeah, or I can get someone to pick it up tomorrow," Elijah suggested.

"Also a good plan. You're welcome here anytime."

Elijah smiled and stepped through the threshold. "Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, Jenna, and Elena . . . I hope to see you again sometime soon."

Jenna and Elijah chatted for a few moments before he smiled at Rebecca genuinely.

"It's good you're taking an interest in history, Miss Stone. You might find something interesting about your family. They were considered one of the Founding Families, yes?"

"Yes, Elijah. They were," she said politely.

"If you need help researching, let me know, okay?"

She nodded and Elijah took his leave.

Rebecca looked at Elena, and they both seemed to get the same idea at the same time. They wanted to check on Chelsea and Jeremy.

Rebecca heard music coming from Jeremy's room and Chelsea was giggling, so she hoped that meant everything was okay.

Before Elena and Rebecca could make it to Jeremy's door, Elijah appeared before them. He put a finger to his mouth and looked at them sternly. Who did he think he was, their dad?

"I'm getting my sister," Rebecca said firmly. "Don't try to stop me."

The look Elijah gave her warned her not to try anything. She nodded and slowly opened Jeremy's door. What she saw would have amused her if the situation hadn't been so dire: Chelsea was jumping on Jeremy's bed, using it almost as one would use a trampoline. She would jump a few times and then land on her butt. She was having so much fun Rebecca hated to break it up, but she wasn't leaving Chelsea alone with Jeremy when Elijah was around because she wasn't quite sure she could trust the Original yet.

"Hey, Jer. I'm getting ready to go, so . . . I need my sister back," she said apologetically. "And Jenna needs help downstairs. Something about getting everything together for the historical society."

"Oh, um, yeah. Sure."

Jeremy picked Chelsea up from the bed and she began laughing again.

"It's time to go, Chels," Rebecca said.

"No!" the girl exclaimed. "No go!"

Jeremy smirked. "She's learned that terrible word that is going to get you in trouble."

"Yeah. Anyway, we're going to go say bye to Elena."

"Okay. See you downstairs."  
\----------  
At the grill, Damon was still talking to the girl who'd been asking about Mason. He'd found out her name was Jules. She was trying to find a place to stay.

"Well, there's a little B and B down the road and there's a motel off I-9, but if you ask me I think it's kind of a mistake."

"No frills is fine. I'm just here for the night. It's a long story, but I'm looking for my friend."

"Oh? Who?"

"Mason Lockwood."

"Oh, I know Mason. He's a great guy." Except for the werewolf thing, Damon might've been able to get along with him. If Mason hadn't been a werewolf, he wouldn't have felt the need to attack Rebecca or Stefan – or Damon, himself.

"He's missing," the girl said.

"What d'you mean? Like, I mean, missing-missing?"

Jules nodded and then smiled. "How do you know Mason?"

"Friends of friends. I, uh, I know Mrs. Lockwood."

Damon ordered another drink even though Jules hadn't even begun to drink hers. Maybe she really wasn't a drinker, like she'd said originally.  
\----------  
Back at the Gilbert residence, Rebecca had taken Chelsea into Elena's room because that was where Elena and Elijah had gone.

"Forgive the intrusion," Elijah said once the door was closed. "I mean your family no harm."

"Why did you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?" Elena questioned.

"Because I didn't want you to be taken."

Elijah had gone to sit by the window; he possibly wanted to seem non-threatening by lessening his height.

"Klaus is the most feared and hated of the Originals, but those that fear him are desperate for his approval. Word gets out that the doppelganger exists, there'll be a line of vampires eager to take you to him, and I can't have that."

"You don't want Klaus to get Elena?"

"Let's just say that my goal is not to break the curse. Klaus's obsessions have made him paranoid. He's a recluse. He trusts only those in his immediate circle."

"Like you?" Elena asked.

"Not anymore," Elijah said.

If Rebecca hadn't known any better, she'd have thought Elijah looked hurt and disappointed at what he'd just said.

"You don't know where he is, do you?" Elena asked, and Elijah's face became guarded. "So, you're trying to use me to draw him out."

"Well, to do that, I need you to stay put and stop trying to get yourself killed."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"If I wasn't being truthful, your family would be dead and I'd be taking you to Klaus right now," Elijah said simply. "Instead, I'm here, and I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"What kind of a deal?" Rebecca asked. She knew he could be trusted with deals. He would have kept his deal with her if Damon hadn't have died by his father's hand.

"Do nothing," Elijah said to Elena. "Do nothing. Live your life, stop fighting, and then when the time is right, you and I will draw Klaus out together, and I will make certain that your friends remain unharmed."

"And then what?" the brunette asked.

"Then I kill him."

"Just like that?"

Elijah nodded. "I'm a man of my word, Elena. I make a deal, I keep a deal."

"How are you gonna be able to keep everybody safe?"

"You know, I notice you have a friend. Bonnie, is it? She seems to possess the gift of magic. I have friends with similar gifts."

"The Martin's," Rebecca said.

"Yes. Together, we can protect everybody that matters to you." He stepped towards Elena. "So do we have a deal?"

Elena looked at Rebecca, and the blond thought the girl was considering it. Elena wanted a way to keep everyone safe and this was it.

"Okay. But I need you to do one more thing for me."

"We're negotiating now?"

"My boyfriend is stuck in a tomb with Katherine Pierce," Elena said. "The spell is too strong for Bonnie to undo on her own and I –"

"You want him out," Elijah deduced. "Done."

"The deal starts when I see that he's free," Elena said.

"It will be done tonight."

Elijah was gone in two seconds and Rebecca knew Stefan would be free before the night was over.  
\----------  
"You know, this is good," Luka said.

He and Bonnie had come up to the roof of the building and had lit a few candles so they could see what they were doing. She had the moonstone and one of the Grimoires.

"This is really good. We're in full view of the moon, and, uh, it's private."

"If anyone looks up, they're gonna think we're insane."

"Aren't we?" Luka smiled. ""So, uh, what kind of talisman are we unbinding?"

Bonnie laughed. "Uh, this."

She pulled the moonstone out of her pocket and she handed it to Luka.

"Oh, wow, it's a white rock. This is fascinating."

"I know it doesn't look like much."

"What's it spelled with?"

Bonnie opened her mouth and then closed it again because she couldn't say.

"Really? Help a girl out, and she still keeps secrets."

"Sorry."

"I'm just teasing you."

Luka placed the rock back in Bonnie's palm and she grasped it in both hands. Luka grabbed her hands and looked at her.

"Ready?"

Bonnie nodded and then started chanting from the book they'd decided could help them break the spell on the moonstone. Luka joined in after a few seconds and the flames flew up to about a foot high.

Bonnie felt heat flow through her because of the energy that was being channeled from the fire. The moonstone began to float up into the air and it kept floating until suddenly it exploded like a firework. She couldn't believe she'd done that. The spell – whether the curse had been broken or not – had caused the explosion.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

"You know, listen, I'm really tight with the Sheriff. If there's anything I can do that will help find Mason, I'll do it," Damon said. "He's a great guy. I mean, after his brother's funeral he stuck around and helped his nephew –"

"Tyler?" Jules asked.

"Yep. Mason was with him the whole time, helped him through all that grief." Damon smiled at her, pretending to be shy. "You know, you haven't touched your drink."

"I'm not much of a drinker. I should actually get going."

"Oh, no, come on. One drink," he pleaded, sounding like someone who didn't want her to leave.

Jules turned back to him and smiled a little.

"If you insist. It'll help me sleep."

Damon clinked glasses with her and said a cheer for sleep. He watched as Jules brought the glass to her mouth, but before she could take a sip she slammed the glass back down on the bar. Damon gave Ric a signal to come back just in case, because apparently this Jules was a werewolf.

"You think you're clever, don't you?" she asked.

"What do you want with Mason Lockwood?"

"He's my friend."

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but you probably won't find him." He dropped the nice guy act. "You should leave town."

"Are you threatening me? On a full moon . . . How stupid are you?"

Ric sat down on the other side of the girl and said, "Damon, how about that second round?"

"I think we're done, Ric." Then to the werewolf. "You think I'm afraid of you?"

"No, I don't," Jules said, standing up and facing him. "That's your vampire arrogance. But you should be. I sniffed you out the moment you entered this bar, along with your pathetic wolfsbane. See, I've been at this a long time. And any other night of the month, the situation would be reversed, but tonight is not the night to pick a fight with me. You've been marked."

Damon watched Jules walk out of the bar. He was going to give her a couple minutes and then he was going to go after her.

In fact, she was probably going to wait for him outside to ambush him.  
\----------  
At the Lockwood slave cellar, Caroline was feeling as helpless as ever. Tyler had begun his transformation, but he was not yet a wolf. Every bone in his body had been broken as his human frame tried to become that of a canine.

"I wanna help, but I don't know what to do," she admitted.

Tyler was laid out on the ground, exhausted and traumatized from his physical ordeal.

"There's . . . there's nothing you can do," he said softly. "You need to get out before it starts again."

"No, I –"

"Get out. I don't wanna hurt you."

"No. No – okay?"

Tyler's back arched and he screamed as his spine broke in half. Caroline screamed along with him. Why couldn't he just shift already?  
\----------  
"Where is she?" Damon demanded as he and Ric stormed out of the Grill.

"Just let it go. Damon, don't be stupid."

"What? I'm supposed to just let her get away? 'You've been marked?' What the hell kind of wolf throw-down crap is that anyway?"

"Damon, look up!" Ric said, grabbing Damon's arm. "Look up! If this werewolf stuff is true, one bite and you're dead. One bite!"

Damon noticed the full moon and realized Ric was right. He couldn't go after this girl no matter how much he wanted to. He had responsibilities to people and he couldn't be as reckless as he'd once been.

"Don't risk it. Just go home, lock your doors and we'll deal with it in the morning," Ric said.

Damon nodded, recognizing the wisdom in that plan.  
\----------  
Damon was just getting home when Rebecca pulled into the garage. Damon was in his Camaro and she was in her Charger. Rebecca noticed something was wrong the second she saw his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, opening the back door so she could get Chelsea out.

Damon didn't answer until they got to the front door. Rebecca knew something was extremely off when Damon locked the door.

"Damon?"

"I may have pissed off a werewolf."

"Oh, Damon." Rebecca shook her head. "I knew I should've gone with you."

Rebecca followed Damon through the house and into the library/study/war room they had. Someone was there, but not someone Rebecca viewed as a threat.

"Rose," she said. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd left."

Rose looked away. "I did. I wanted to apologize."

"Just admit it. You don't have anywhere else to go," Damon said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the doorway.

"I'm sorry about Elena. I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't know that she had a death wish. But I called you. I tried to make it right, okay?"

Rebecca knew Rose was mostly talking to Damon, because Damon was the one who could hold grudges.

"I'm sorry, Damon. And I have nowhere else to go," Rose added as an afterthought.

"I forgive you," Rebecca said. "Elena's just stupid."

Suddenly there was the sound of glass shattering coming from the living room. Rebecca jumped because the noise was so sudden.

"Damon?"

"Keep Chelsea in here," he ordered and Rebecca agreed.

Both Damon and Rose left and Rebecca was frustrated that, again she wasn't able to help out because of Chelsea. She couldn't just leave Chelsea there alone. Whatever had just broken in would be able to get to her.

She heard snarling coming from the living room and everything became clear. The werewolf Damon had upset had followed him home.

"Damon!" she heard Rose say, and then there was thud and Rose was yelling in pain and fear.

Rebecca bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and cursed under her breath. What was she supposed to do now? Rose was in trouble and maybe Damon too – and she had Chelsea to think about. Chelsea, who was screaming because someone else was screaming. Chelsea was afraid – at least Chelsea was screaming for herself and not because she was feeling someone else's fear.

"Oh, it's okay," she said, beginning to sway back and forth. It had worked when Chelsea had been younger; maybe it would help now.

A whimper – an actual animal whimper – came from the living room and then all was silent, except for the crying baby in Rebecca's arms.

"Damon?" she called out. "Is it safe now?"

"Yeah, you can come in here."

Rebecca went into the living room and saw Damon kneeling down over Rose, who had a wound on her shoulder. It was a bite mark.

"Is that . . . ?" she asked Damon and he nodded.

"How bad is it?" he asked Rose.

"It hurts."

Hurts? Rebecca thought. Werewolf bites were supposed to be fatal to vampires. It had to do more than hurt.

"It's healing . . ." Damon said in wonder.

And sure enough, the wound was disappearing. The bite mark was going away.

"I thought a werewolf bite was fatal," Rose said. "I thought . . ."

Rose began sobbing and leaned forward into Damon's arms. That's when Rebecca realized that Damon and Rose had bonded over the time Rose had been there. If the werewolf bite had been fatal, Damon would've lost a friend.

"You're gonna be okay," Damon said. "You're gonna be okay."

Rebecca was surprised that she didn't feel any jealousy – she guessed it was because she knew Damon was as loyal as a person could get.  
\----------  
"Are we seriously not gonna talk at all?" Katherine asked.

Stefan had been in the tomb now for about a day and a half. He had the candles lit from what Damon had brought him. Katherine was on one side of the tomb and he was on the other.

"No, we can talk about how you regret all you've done to make my life miserable."

"What d'you want me to say, Stefan?" Katherine asked. "That I'm sorry for everything I've done? Well, I'm not, okay? It's called self-preservation. I've been looking out for myself for five hundred years."

"And look where it's gotten you," Stefan said, gesturing at the tomb.

"Yes, I've done terrible things. I know that. But I do love you, Stefan." Katherine began walking toward him and didn't stop until she was right in front of him. "Even if you don't believe it."

"You . . . want me to believe you?" Stefan questioned. "Show me. Do something. Prove to me that there's something inside of you that's actually worth trusting."

"And then what? You're still gonna hate me."

Katherine sat down across from him and stared at him, basically daring him to contradict her.

"Well, maybe," Stefan said. "Or maybe I'll see that there's still hope for you after all."

"You're playing me," she assumed. She looked away and when she looked back Stefan could see the mask she'd put in place. "You wanna find Klaus? Kill him so you can protect your precious Elena?"

"Let me guess. You know where he is?"

"No, I don't. But I could help you find him. Start with Isobel, Elena's mother. She was a research expert. She found me."

Stefan nodded, but before he could say thank you there was a loud thud on the wall – it sounded as if something very strong had hit the entrance of the tomb.

Both Stefan and Katherine looked toward the entrance, and they got up to go see what was happening. Katherine stopped mid-step when she saw that Elijah was standing there.

How was he standing there? Hadn't Damon killed him?

"Good evening, Katerina," he said. "Thank you for having the good sense to be frightened." Then to Stefan Elijah said, "Your release has been requested."

"What? By who?"

"The lovely Elena drives a hard bargain. However, we've reached a peaceful agreement, she and I. Please, come."

Stefan slowly made his way forward and hesitantly stepped out of the tomb. The spell had obviously been lifted.

Katherine rushed forward, but Elijah flashed in front of her. Stefan watched as Elijah caught and held Katherine's gaze.

"You, however, shall not exit until I say so. When Klaus comes he'll want to know exactly where you are."

Elijah broke her gaze and Stefan watched as Katherine snapped out of it. Elijah had compelled Katherine . . . Elijah could compel a vampire, which meant Original vampires could obviously compel other supernatural creatures.

Stefan would have to tell the others.

"You're free to go," Elijah told him. "Elena will explain the arrangement to you. If she keeps her word, I'll keep mine."  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, Chelsea asleep between them, while Rose was off taking a shower. Rebecca had just gotten off the phone with Caroline to see how everything had gone with Tyler, and Damon had just gotten off his phone with Ric.

Caroline hadn't said much except for the fact that the transformation had been long and torturous. Tyler hadn't left the cellar, though, so the wolf that had attacked Rose hadn't been Tyler.

Rose came out and sat on the couch with them. She was wearing a red robe. They told her about Tyler, so she jumped to the only logical conclusion.

"So it was Jules, the other werewolf. The one who attacked you?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry," Damon said.

Rebecca froze. "Wait, what? The wolf attacked you?"

"Well, I picked a fight with her. She was coming after me." Damon stood up and went to grab three tumblers and filled them up with bourbon.

"All's well that ends well," Rose said lightly.

"You all healed?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. Seems that way."

"Rose, uh . . . I'm happy that the legend was fake."

Rebecca smiled at Damon's honesty and the humanity he was expressing at the moment. This was the part of Damon she'd fallen in love with first and the part she loved the most.

"Maybe werewolves made it up to keep the vampires away."

"Lucky me," Rose said, smiling.

"Very lucky," Rebecca agreed.

Rose looked serious suddenly. "I'm gonna stay and help you save Elena."

"Really? Why?" Damon asked.

"Because I like you and I believe in friendship. I happen to have a vacancy in that department and you can use all the friends you can get."

Rebecca giggled at that because Rose was right. Damon had a problem keeping friends.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Rose announced. "See you in the morning."

"See ya."

Once Rose had gone, Rebecca said, "I love you, Damon."

Damon smiled. "Okay, Random. I love you, too."

"It's not random. I love when I see you opening up and letting people in. It's almost beautiful."

"Almost beautiful?" Damon was mock insulted. "Not sexy?"

"You're sexy," Rebecca whispered. "But the way you are is beautiful."

Damon smiled almost shyly and it made Rebecca giggle. She hadn't seen that smile in a long time.

"Come on," she said, grabbed his hand. "Let's get Chelsea into bed, and then we can go show our love for each other."  
\----------  
The next morning Damon and Rebecca woke up, both in a good mood – until they went downstairs. Elena and Stefan were there and they were getting into it about Elena's deal with Elijah.

"I can't pretend everything's okay," Stefan said.

"Katherine's locked away in the tomb."

"I know, but we still have this pressing little issue of you being Klaus's human sacrifice."

"Yes, but Elijah promised to keep everyone safe as long as we played by his rules.

"Right, as long as you played by his rules."

"What's going on?" Damon asked suddenly. "What deal are you talking about? And how did you get out of the tomb, Stefan?"

Elena looked at Rebecca briefly, and with surprise.

"You didn't tell him?"

"We had a long night," Rebecca said. "Long story short, Elijah doesn't want Elena killing herself. He wants to draw Klaus out so he can kill him."

"Hm . . ." Damon widened his eyes. "You believed him?"

"I made a deal with him, didn't I? And so far Elijah has kept his word," Elena said smartly.

"You know . . . Katherine said that Isobel might have answers," Stefan started hesitantly. "And I have a couple questions."

"Stefan, I made a deal with Elijah."

"Right. You made a deal with Elijah. I didn't make one. You should keep your deal."

"Stefan, I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"When have I ever wanted somebody to get hurt?" Stefan wondered out loud.

"Uh . . ." Rebecca started, "Me. When I died."

Both Elena and Stefan glared at her and she gave a sheepish expression. She'd been being honest, what did they want?

"Anyway," Stefan began again. "We need to start ingesting vervain. Katherine built up a tolerance for it so it wouldn't hurt her if she were injected with it. Also . . . Elijah can compel vampires. I saw him do it with Katherine. The spell is off of the tomb and yet she's still in there because he told her to stay."

Rebecca looked at Damon. He had his thinking face on.

"How is that possible?" Elena asked.

"He's an Original. I don't really know what that means," Stefan admitted.

"I guess that means I will have to call Diana back to town." Rebecca said. Even though Diana had given Rebecca the apartment the lease was almost up for the year and Rebecca had never signed the thing anyway.

Elena smiled Stefan's way. "See, we don't need Isobel; we just need Diana and her books."

"Yes, please. No Isobel," Rebecca said. "I'm gonna go and explain to Rose what's going on and get Chelsea up. You guys get the vervain ready. I like Elijah, but I'm not risking compulsion."

As Rebecca walked away Damon called after her, "You're bossy today."

"You love it," she called back. "Now get to work."  
\----------  
Once Rebecca got upstairs she went to where Rose had been sleeping. The woman in question was just getting dressed. She was pulling her pants on underneath her gown.

"Hello, Rose," she said. "Sleep well?"

"My shoulder is a bit sore."

Rose pulled her robe off as if another person weren't in the room with her, and when she turned to grab a new shirt Rebecca gasped.

"Rose!" She rushed into the room and stopped Rose from moving. "Your wound . . . it's back."

"What?" Rose grabbed at her shoulder. "Oh my God!"

"I – you're gonna be okay. You just need blood. When's the last time you fed?"

"Two days ago . . ."

"Well, that must be it. Okay?"

Rose nodded and sat on the bed while Rebecca rushed down to the cellar and grabbed a blood bag. She passed by Elena, who was cutting sprigs of vervain off of the plants Damon had continued to grow. Stefan and Damon were there with her.

"Damon?" Rebecca called.

When Damon looked at her he didn't even say anything. He could probably tell that something was wrong just by the look on her face.

"Come with me," she said. "Rose is . . . her wound is back."

"What?"

"She hasn't fed in a couple of days, so it may be because she's weak." Rebecca gestured to the blood bag she had. "Um . . . yeah."

Rebecca and Damon made their way back to Rose's room, where Rebecca was glad to see that Rose had put on her shirt.

"Rose?" The vampire looked like she was in shock. "I brought you blood."

"I was born in 1450 – that makes me 560 years old," Rose said. "So I can die. I've lived long enough."

"You know, if you're gonna be maudlin, I'm gonna kill you myself," Damon said, grabbing the blood bag from Rebecca's hand. "Just to put me out of your misery. Come on, it's just a little werewolf bite."

Rose laughed softly. "Just a little fatal-to-a-vampire werewolf bite."

"Well, according to legend, which is a notoriously unreliable source." Damon put the little tube in the blood bag and then handed it to Rose. "Drink up. Blood heals."

Rebecca realized that Damon was pretending not to be worried so that Rose might feel better.

Rose took a few sips from the blood bag and then said, "Yeah. It does feel like it's working."

"Well, then, let's have a look. Come on."

Rose turned away from Damon so that she could lift her shirt without him seeing anything in the front.

"How is it?" she asked.

"Uh . . . definitely not bad." Damon stumbled over the words. For a once homicidal vampire, he really was a terrible liar.

The bite wound on Rose's shoulder was worse than it had been. It looked like some flesh eating bacteria had gotten a hold of her. Or maybe that someone had clawed her with a gardening fork.

"Right, Rebecca?" he asked.

"Oh, uh . . ." She was surprised that Damon had asked. "It's not bad." She was a terrible liar too.

"See, Rose. It's not that bad." Damon looked at Rebecca. "I'm gonna go find Stefan real quick and then I'm gonna go on a hunting trip. Keep your phone on you."

Rebecca nodded once. She knew that Damon wanted to find Jules and find out what they could do to help Rose.  
\----------  
"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked when he reached Elena in the cellar.

"He left. I need you to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel, but I think that's gonna upset Elijah."

"No can do. I'm with Stefan on this one. But if you could help Rebecca play nurse for a little while . . ."

"Damon, Rebecca doesn't want Isobel involved. She hurt Matt last time and she took Jeremy."

"She needed something last time. She doesn't now."

Elena paused in cutting the vervain sprigs and whispered, "Is Rose gonna die?"

"Probably," Damon said. "The wolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse."

"Like a poison?"

"I don't know, Elena. I'm not an expert in the field."

"I'm sorry," Elena said.

"Death happens. We come we go. The sooner she dies, the better. It's gloomy as hell in here."

"That's not how you feel, and you know it." Elena touched his arm through his shirt. "Rebecca wouldn't be able to love you if you really felt that way."

It was true. Damon didn't really feel that way, but it was also true that if he found that there was no cure it was better that Rose die fast rather than suffer.  
\----------  
Caroline was at home waiting for Tyler to come pick her up. They were going to a pep rally together. She was a cheerleader and he was a football player so it made sense. Plus she wanted to know how he was doing.

When he called to ask if he could pick her up he'd said he was fine but sore, that every muscle ached. It made sense because every bone in his body had been broken and converted twice, once while he'd shifted into a wolf and the other when he'd shifted back into human.

But he'd done it. He'd made it through his first full moon and he hadn't hurt anyone, namely her.

It would be easier now. He'd get better at it, he'd learn to control it, and it wouldn't hurt as much. She knew she needed to tell Tyler about the legend of the werewolf bite, but she wanted to help him enjoy this small victory first.  
\----------  
Tyler had just parked outside of Caroline's house. He was there because he was giving her a ride to the school for the pep rally the school was having.

Before Tyler could get out of his car, Caroline came bounding out of the house and had already reached the car before he could get out and open the door for her.

"Hey," she said, smiling widely.

"Hey back." Tyler didn't start the car right away. "Look, I really wanna thank you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there."

Caroline's bright smile turned into a shy one and she looked away.

"Um, yeah . . . anyway, um, next month we should probably reinforce the wall because, I mean, you almost got me that one time, and it just would've been, um . . ."

"What?"

"Uh . . . never mind, it's . . ." Caroline began laughing nervously.

Tyler remembered breaking through the door and almost getting Caroline, but she would have been fine anyway because vampires healed fast, right?

"What?"

"Well, it's not a big thing. It's just that one bite . . . and it's, uh, you know, curtains for me."

"What're you talkin' about?"

Tyler realized they needed to get moving if they were going to make it to the school on time, so he started the car and they took off.

"The legend says that a bite from a werewolf can . . . kill a vampire."

"How d'you know that?" And why would she risk it, if that was the case? Why would she risk her life just so he wouldn't have to be alone the first time he'd changed?

"I . . ." Caroline bit her lip and sighed. It was almost like she didn't want to answer. "I think I read it somewhere. I've been reading up on everything supernatural ever since I turned into a vampire."

"Oh. Well . . . next time you should get away before I turn. I don't want you hurt because of me."  
\----------  
At the school, Caroline and Tyler ran into Matt, who wanted to talk to the blond so Tyler left them to it.

"That was nothing," Caroline said. "There is nothing going on between Tyler and me. We were just talking."

"I believe you," Matt said. "Look, Caroline, you're a lot of things, but you're not a liar. You've always been straight with me and I believe you."

"Well . . . good."

Caroline smiled on the outside, but she felt completely guilty on the inside. Matt seemed to have so much faith in her and yet she lied to him all the time. She lied to protect him, but she still lied.

"Look, I think we got some wires crossed here, and you know how tongue-tied I get, and, well . . . I – I don't like this."

"Don't like what?"

"Whatever this is that's going on between us. I miss you, and I – I just wanna –"

Matt broke off and gently let his lips slide against hers. To say Caroline was surprised was an understatement. The last time she'd really talked to Matt had been when she'd pretended to be mad at him for talking to Aimee Bradley. He'd broken up with her because she'd pretended to be jealous.

Caroline kissed him back without thinking. She still loved Matt. Only when his heartbeat began to pound in her ears did she pull away.

"You can't," she breathed out. "Just –"

"Why? Care?"

"No, Matt. Okay?"

Caroline forced herself to walk away from Matt, knowing she'd just made things more awkward for herself. Now she'd have to avoid Matt for the rest of the day.  
\----------  
Ric was at the Grill, having lunch and grading papers, when Stefan Salvatore sat down across from him.

"Hey, is that the, uh, werewolf?" Stefan asked, gesturing to a blond girl, who was also having lunch.

"Yeah. I, uh, just left Damon a message."

Ric had been researching all morning even though he'd just found out about Rose being infected. He knew that legends were based on truth, at least a little, so he'd wanted to be sure nothing was going to pop out and surprise him. None of the lore had any hint of a cure, though, and Ric didn't want anything to happen to the one vampire that wasn't Katherine that could actually help them.

"So you're doing his dirty work for him now?"

"Hm, well, she could have a cure for Rose." Ric liked Stefan – really, he did – but he didn't like how he sometimes treated Damon. "I couldn't find anything in any of Isobel's research except for the fact that it's fatal."

"Do you still know of a way to, uh . . . to get in touch with Isobel?"

"Even if I did, she isn't gonna help," Ric said firmly. "What would she care if a random vampire died of a vampire bite?"

Stefan shook his head. "Katherine said that Isobel knew of Klaus."

"So this isn't about Rose. It's about Elena." Ric sighed. "I have an old number, probably out of service."

"No harm in giving it to me, then."

"You know you can't trust Isobel even when it comes to Elena."

"I know that."

"A'right. I'll see if I can find that number. If I do, I'll text it to you." Ric picked up his stack of papers and looked at Stefan. "Keep track of the she-wolf until Damon gets here, will you? And don't let him do anything stupid."

Stefan nodded and let a small chuckle pass his lips as Ric walked away.  
\----------  
Back at the boardinghouse Rebecca was helping Rose into bed. She'd sent Elena home and she'd asked the brunette to take Chelsea with her. Elena had agreed – there were too many unknown factors in this situation for Chelsea to be anywhere near it.

"I hate this," Rose said. "I'm a vampire. I haven't had a cold in five centuries. We don't get sick. When we die, it's fast and sudden, and it's certainly not drawn out with illness."

Rebecca didn't know why, but she'd brought Rose to Damon's room and had put her in Damon's bed. Maybe because Damon was Rose's friend or maybe just because Rebecca felt more comfortable in the room she shared with Damon.

"You're lucky, you know," Rose said. "No one's ever loved me the way Damon loves you. Trevor was my best friend, nothing more. I spent all those years on the run from Elijah. I just never thought it was a good idea to set up roots. The whole idea of a family is not exactly compatible with being a vampire."

"Tell me about it," Rebecca said. "I love Chelsea and I don't want to give her up. But sometimes . . ."

"Sometimes you think it would be best?"

"Yes." But she didn't want to take her away from Damon.

"He'd understand, you know. He'd be angry, but he'd understand."

Rose then looked like she was going to fall asleep while talking and Rebecca sighed. Things did not look good for Rose. Unless . . .

"Rose, will you do something for me?" Rebecca asked. "I want you to drink from me."

"What?"

"Please? I . . . my blood is powerful. It may not heal you, but it may make you feel better."

"I can't use you as a blood bag, Rebecca."

"I'm offering it to you as a convenient fix – or possible fix."

Rebecca brought her wrist up to Rose's mouth and left it there for Rose to decide. The older vampire grimaced.

"Not from the vein. Put it in a glass."

"Okay." Rebecca got up and went to Damon's mini-bar. He had it stocked specifically for him since it was in his room. "Where are you from, Rose?"

"St. Austell. Thirty kilometers south of London. All trees and fields and horses."

"So, nothing like Mystic Falls then?" Rebecca quipped.

"No."

Rebecca picked up one of Damon's tumblers and then bit into her wrist and held it over the glass. She had to bite herself three times before the glass was even half full.

She handed the glass to Rose and told her to drink it all. Rebecca waited patiently for Rose to finish and then she told Rose to let her see the bite marks.

The wounds began to fade as Rebecca watched. They didn't disappear completely, but they looked better than they had before.

Maybe Rebecca had bought Rose some time for Damon to find a cure . . . if there was one.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

Damon arrived at the Grill about five minutes after Ric had texted him to let him know that Jules was there. Stefan was also there – Damon didn't know why – and was trying to get him to not talk to the girl who had bitten Rose.

"What're you doing here?" Damon asked his brother.

"I'm waiting for you. Listen, there are a lot of people here."

"Oh, well, there goes my plan to rip her spleen through her back." Damon rolled his eyes at Stefan's concern. "I'm not gonna kill her in a crowded restaurant."

"Listen, I know you're upset about Rose."

"Why does everyone think I'm upset about Rose? I'm fine. I don't know if you know this, but sometimes vampires die. Now, I'm gonna have a friendly chat with the lady-wolf, brother. Ease up."

Both Damon's and Stefan's phones rang at the same time. Damon was grateful it took Stefan's mind off of him.

Damon looked at the screen of his phone and saw that Rebecca was calling. He didn't want to ignore her, but he needed to get done with this werewolf drama quickly. He put his phone on silent and then went and sat down at the table Jules was at eating a salad.

"Well, if it isn't the one I meant to kill," Jules quipped. "I'll have to get that right next time."

"You won't live to see another full moon. Unless . . . unless you tell me how to cure a wolf bite. And then I won't kill you."

Jules looked at him and he knew he had her attention because she refused to look away from him.

"Promise?"

"Yes," Damon said seriously.

Jules picked up her purse, pulled out a twenty dollar bill and placed it on the table, all the while looking like she was debating what to say.

Eventually she stood up and said, "Bite me."

Damon got up and went after her. He grabbed her before she could walk out the door and turned her around to face him.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said in a sing-song sort of voice.

"Then you are very, very stupid."

"How's your friend? Rose? Is that her name?" Jules asked. "Have the chills started? The unbearable pain?"

"If there's a cure, tell me. Or start watching your back."

"Did I mention the dementia? It'll eat away at her brain. Soon she'll be rabid. You want a cure?"

Damon nodded while hoping that all Jules was saying wasn't true. All of this should have been happening to him. He had been the one Jules had wanted. Rose had pushed him out of the way. She had saved his life.

"I'll tell you the only cure that exists. Take a stake and drive it through her heart."  
\----------  
Rebecca had called Damon's cell phone six times. She didn't know why he wasn't picking up. Maybe he was taking care of Jules or something.

The seventh time she called she got a very annoyed – almost ticked off, "What?"

"Damon, you need to get home," she said, ignoring his tone. She knew he was completely stressed over Rose.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well . . . Rose . . . is . . . a little better."

"What?" Damon made it sound like it was impossible. Maybe it was. "How?"

"I . . . let her drink some of my blood. It helped a little. It didn't cure her completely, but she isn't as bad as before. I bought her some time for you to find something."

"Well . . . are you with Rose right now?"

"No. She's asleep."

"Good." She heard Damon sigh. "There may not be a cure. And things may become worse. Dementia. If she becomes violent . . ."

"Oh." If Rose became violent while Damon wasn't there . . . Rebecca may have to kill her. "Um . . . good thing I sent Elena and Chelsea away then."

"Look, I'll be back soon, okay? Call Diana and see if she knows anything. I'll call Ric and do the same."

"Okay. I love you," she said deliberately. Damon was hurting and needed to know he wasn't alone.

"Love you, too."

She heard as the phone line became empty and she took the phone from her ear. She hoped Rose didn't become violent. Rebecca didn't want to have to kill her. If things were going to become as bad as Damon had said, though, killing Rose would be a kindness. She would no longer be suffering.

Rebecca suddenly heard a thud – it sounded like someone had fallen. Maybe Rose had tried getting out of bed and hadn't been able to hold herself up.

She went back to Damon's room to check on Rose, but the girl wasn't there. She wasn't in the bathroom either.

"Rose?" Rebecca called out as she went back out to the hallway.

Rebecca checked Rose's old room and then the library/study room that Rose seemed to like. There was no sight of her. She had to be somewhere in the house because it was daylight and Rose didn't have any day-walking jewelry.

Rose had spent most of her life in the shadows; she really was nocturnal – she had no other way to be. Rose was vulnerable and sick right now, so where would she go to feel more secure? Probably the darkest place in the house she could find.

The cellar; the basement.

"Rose?" Rebecca called again when she reached the door to the basement.

She went down the stairs and almost immediately found an empty blood bag. Maybe Rose had come down here because she'd been hungry, not because she'd been scared. Rebecca quickly walked to the room where they kept the cooler for the blood bags and saw that there were five more blood bags on the floor and a sixth one was in Rose's hands. She was biting into the bag like it was going to be her last meal.

Maybe she thought it was.

"Rose?" Rebecca said softly, inching toward her. "Rose, you shouldn't drink that fast. It's going to make you sick."

"But I'm so hungry!"

"I can see that." Rebecca touched Rose's shoulder and helped her up. "Why don't we go back to Damon's room? I'll bring some more blood and you can rest, okay?"

Rose nodded and Rebecca bent down to pick up the empty blood bags. Blood was all over the floor and she knew she'd have to come back down after Rose fell back asleep – the floor needed a good scrub.

Before Rebecca could stand back up on her own she was being grabbed and fangs were sinking into her neck. Rose was biting her.

Obviously Rose was changing mentally because she never would've bitten her otherwise.

Dementia, Damon had said. The wolf bite was going to drive Rose insane and the process was already starting.  
\----------  
It was night by the time Damon got home, and he immediately knew something was wrong because the front door was wide open. Rebecca wouldn't have left Rose on her own, so either someone had gone in and hadn't shut the door, or someone had come out. Maybe Rose had run off and Rebecca had chased after her.

As soon as Damon stepped inside he smelled blood. Rebecca's blood and others mixed in. He rushed to where the smell was coming from and saw something that stopped his heart. Rebecca was on the floor and she was grey and veiny, the way vampires looked when they were dead.

There was a wound on her neck and blood all around her and on her. She had been bitten. She wasn't dead then. She'd been bled dry, but she'd be fine once she got some blood in her.

What she really needed was something fresh, but the blood bags would have to do. He didn't have time to find her someone to drink from.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, annoyed that people seemed to call him only when he was busy.

Caller ID said Liz, so Damon had to take it. This could be about Rose.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Damon, can you come to the school? There's been an attack outside near the trash pickup site."

"Sure, I'm on my way."

"Thanks. I'm trying to keep the body contained, but people are starting to ask question."

"People?"

"There's a pep rally tonight, Damon."

"Oh. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Once Damon had given Rebecca a blood bag she had begun to stir. He explained quickly why they needed to go to the school and she nodded, grabbed another blood bag and followed him upstairs.

"You're feeding from a human later, Becca," Damon said. "You literally just died again tonight."

"I did?"

"Yes. You had no blood left in your system. I had to revive you."

"Oh."

Rebecca went to their room, Damon following her, and quickly changed clothes because she couldn't go out with blood all over her.

"I didn't know that she – One minute she was fine. Well, starving, but . . . you know, fine . . ."

"Then she just snapped?"

"Mm-hm."

After she was presentable they went directly to the school. When they got there, Damon made sure Rebecca was good to go – meaning he needed to know she could get around well on her own. She could, he was happy to see. She still needed to fresh feed, though. Once they got Rose back, he'd make sure Rebecca got something to make her strong again.

The parking lot behind the school was filled with police cars and crime scene tape. The man who had been killed was indeed near the trash cans – the man had been a janitor for the school.

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Liz said when she saw them headed her way.

"No, I was close by, Liz. What happened?" Damon said, pretending to be breathless, as if he'd had to run to get there.

"A vampire. Luckily one of my deputies found the body before anyone else saw him."

"We have to secure the area, then."

Liz nodded and Rebecca agreed whole-heartedly. There were teenagers outside near the football field where the pep rally was being held.

"Don't cause a panic," Liz called her men, "but let's move this party into the cafeteria.

"I'll take the east side of the school, you go west," Liz said to Damon.

"Sure. Okay."

"Uh, Sheriff," Rebecca said. "I was almost attacked earlier tonight. Um . . . If this is the same vampire . . . don't go near her. She's almost . . . feral. Um . . . like she's starving. Just call one of us, okay?"

Liz seemed surprised that Rebecca had almost been attacked. What, Slayers couldn't make mistakes?

"Yeah. Okay."  
\----------  
It didn't take long for Damon and Rebecca to find Rose. She had killed another man and was now chomping on the guy's girlfriend. They were probably students.

"Rose, stop!" Damon shouted.

Rose pushed the girl away and ran after him. Even though Rose was five-hundred-and-some-odd years old, Damon was stronger than her in that moment. He was able to force her to the ground and keep her still.

The look in her eyes, though, was horrifying. There was nothing there but hunger and desperation. There wasn't any evil there – the disease she had made her insane, but it did not make her evil.

"Rose." There was no recognition in her eyes. She didn't know who he was – or probably even where she was. Maybe she didn't even know who she was. "Rose. It's me. It's Damon."

He repeated her name and his, trying to get her to come back to herself. He knew it was working when she began to stop struggling.

Rose began to sit up and she looked around. Where once a predator had been now was a lost young woman.

"Did I do this?" she asked frantically when she saw the two bodies lying on the cement. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I never meant to hurt anybody!"

"I know," Damon said. "I know, I know."

Damon watched as Rose collapsed back against the ground. He didn't want her to go back into herself. That was the last thing they needed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Damon realized that Rose wasn't talking to him. She was apologizing to Rebecca. Damon didn't know whether she was apologizing for attacking her or for killing the young couple, but he did know that Rebecca wouldn't hold either against her.

"Come on, let's get you home."

"No, I don't have a home," Rose yelled. "I haven't had a home in so long. Oh, make it stop. Please. I hate it. Make it stop!"

Damon knew the last part was either about the pain or the memories, but he wasn't sure which it was. Damon knew then that he was probably going to have to kill Rose.

They couldn't rely on Rebecca's blood forever, and it was only a temporary fix. Besides, it had only helped with the pain for a few hours, and it hadn't done anything at all for the dementia.

Damon picked rose up, cradling her in his arms, and motioned for Rebecca to follow him. They needed to get to the car so they could get Rose back to the boardinghouse.

At the car, Damon told Rebecca to get the keys out of his back pocket. Someone needed to keep watch over Rose and it couldn't be Rebecca. She wasn't up to full strength yet and he didn't want her getting hurt again.

Halfway to the boardinghouse, Rose fell asleep. Rebecca was glad. If Rose was sleeping, it meant she wasn't in pain.

Rose was, however, talking in her sleep about her home. It was probably fresh in her mind from Damon mentioning them taking her back to the boardinghouse.

"She was used to fields and trees and horses," Rebecca said. "She said she came from St. Austell, near London."  
\----------  
They reached the house and Damon carried Rose up to his bedroom. Rebecca had told him that she had been caring for Rose there, so that was where he was taking her.

While Damon was putting her on the bed, Rose came awake.

"Hi there," he said.

Rebecca noticed she had to look around. Rose probably hadn't known where she was to begin with.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"You went on a murderous rampage," Damon said. "It happens."

Rebecca knew Damon was just trying to make Rose feel better. She added, "It wasn't your fault, Rose. Neither of us blame you for it."

Though three people were dead tonight because of the infection Rose had running through her veins.

"I don't like taking human life. I never have." Rose looked at Rebecca. "It's the worst part about it. The hunt. The need to kill, the thirst. The pleasure it brings you afterwards."

Rebecca's breath seemed to catch in her throat. She didn't know how it felt to kill someone from bleeding them dry, but she had killed before. She hadn't gotten pleasure from killing, but the one life she had taken – John Gilbert's life – had brought a small amount of satisfaction when the deed had been done. It had also brought guilt.

"I wasn't meant to be evil," Rose continued. "It hurts."

"Well, then stop talking about it," Damon told her.

He then turned his back on her and Rebecca watched him. She knew Damon had been affected by Rose's speech - he had killed by feeding before. Damon had even told her about the high that came with killing, that it was a temptation he had to live with every day, that every vampire who had fed had to live with.

"Damon's a lot like me," Rose said. "He wants to care. The minute he does, he runs away from it."

"Except with me," Rebecca said lightly. Rose was right, though, because Damon did run away from feelings, from any strong emotion that he couldn't deal with.

"Except with you," Rose agreed. "You make him feel human. You can never forget it, what it's like to be human. It haunts me, but it's the only thing that's kept me going."

Rose suddenly grabbed her stomach and began yelling. The infection was taking hold of her again.

Damon grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away and gently shoved her toward the door.

"I've got this."

"Well –"

"Just go," he said firmly.

She nodded. "Okay, but . . . I'm gonna call Diana and see if she knows anything – something that will help. Don't let her stop fighting. Not yet."  
\----------  
Tyler Lockwood had been sitting on Caroline Forbes' front porch for the last hour waiting for her to come home. Ever since he'd found out that she would've been killed just for helping him, he hadn't been able to think of anything else. He needed to know why she would risk it.

Finally the blond made it home. "Hey, where've you been?"

"Oh. Down at the school. Uh, what's up? W-what do you want?"

"We need to talk," Tyler said.

"Why?" Caroline seemed hesitant. "What's wrong with you?"

"I just don't understand one thing. Why would you risk it? If a werewolf bite kills a vampire . . . why would you risk it? I could've killed you."

"But you didn't," Caroline said, smiling softly.

"I don't understand you, Caroline."

The blond rolled her eyes and walked past him. She dug out her house key so she could unlock the front door.

"Why is it so hard for you to let someone else help you?" she asked him.

"Well, that's not it."

"Yeah, it is, Tyler." She turned back around to face him. "You know, it's like you don't want anyone to care about you. And I'm sorry I care. I care, Tyler. So forgive me if I overstepped my boundaries by actually giving a –"

Tyler grabbed her and kissed her. He couldn't help it. It just felt right. His hands went into her hair and his lips lingered for a few seconds.

Tyler is kissing me, Caroline thought, a rush of warmth and affection running through her body. She was enjoying it too. But she shouldn't have been. She still loved Matt, Tyler's best friend.

Oh, God. Matt.

She hadn't even felt this way when she'd been kissing Matt. Why hadn't she? She was supposed to love Matt. She wasn't supposed to be crushing on his best friend.

Caroline pulled away and whimpered because she hadn't wanted to. She already missed his lips on hers.

"We can't do that," she said weakly.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said. "It's –"

"Everyone needs to just stop kissing me!" Caroline exclaimed.

The blond turned around, opened the door, and stormed inside only to slam the door in Tyler's face.  
\----------  
Back at the boardinghouse, Damon was in the bed trying to comfort Rose. She had settled down from her most recent fit and seemed to be dozing off now.

"Who'd have thought you'd be a nice guy?" she asked softly.

"Hm. I'm not nice. I'm mean. I like it," he teased.

"You lie," she countered.

"Shh. Shh. Just sleep." Damon began playing with Rose's hair. "Just sleep."

After a few seconds Damon created a scene that was as close to Rose's home as he could with the information he knew. He manipulated Rose's mind to see the place he had created.

The weather was nice. The trees had just begun to change to autumn colors. The grass had begun to turn brown, and there were horses – about three of them – walking around the field Damon had created in his mind for Rose to see.

Rose had longer hair in his mind, and she was wearing a blue, laced, fifteenth century style dress. More importantly, she was happy and not in pain.

He sat down in the middle of the field and waited for her to come to him. She didn't disappoint. After a moment, she came and sat with him.

"This was my favorite place to come as a girl," Rose said. "How did you know?"

"Word gets around. You told Rebecca where you were from."

"Am I dreaming?"

Damon shrugged and smiled. He watched Rose turn her face to the sun, and they both sighed.

"The sun is so warm," Rose said. "I miss this. I miss being human."

"Humanity's not all it's cracked up to be."

"I had friends. I had a family. I mattered."

"You still do," Damon said.

"No," Rose said sadly, tears forming. "But you do. You've built a life, whether you want to admit it or not. I spent five hundred years just existing."

"You didn't have a choice. You were running from Klaus."

"No, there's always a choice," Rose said firmly.

Damon didn't want to argue with her. He'd brought her there so she could find peace and that's what he planned on giving her.

"You know, you are ruining our perfect day with your strange philosophical babbling."

Rose laughed. "I'd like to enjoy the fresh air. Will you enjoy it with me?"

"For a while."

Rose leaned against him and grabbed his hand. Damon let her. He figured she knew why he'd created this dream land for her and she was probably readying herself to die.

"Thank you," she said. "The pain's gone."

"I'm glad," he whispered.

"Will I see them again? My family?"

"I think you will see whoever you wanna see," Damon said. He wasn't too well-versed on any type of theology, but he knew most people believed in some sort of afterlife – a spiritual life.

"That would be nice. Maybe I'll see Trevor too."

Rose sat up straight and turned to look at him.

"I'm not afraid anymore," she claimed.

Back in the real world, Damon was reaching for the stake Rebecca always kept under her pillow and placed it gently above Rose's chest. Rebecca had gotten hold of Diana, but she hadn't been able to help so Damon was doing what he knew had to be done.

"I'll race you to the trees," Rose said, standing up and reaching for him.

"Well, you'll lose."

Rose shook her head and smiled. "I'm older and faster."

"Oh, you think?" Damon teased, standing up with her. "Well, I'm the one controlling this dream. Maybe I'll cheat."

Rose was still smiling. "On the count of three?"

Damon nodded.

"One . . . two . . ."

Before Rose could get to three, Damon shoved the stake into her heart knowing if he'd allowed her to get to three he wouldn't have been able to act. Rose grunted and Damon closed his eyes against the pain he was feeling. He felt it as a solitary tear fell down his cheek.

This was his fault. Jules had been coming after him. If he hadn't riled the lady-wolf up, this wouldn't have happened.  
\----------  
Rebecca was downstairs pacing in front of the fireplace.

She wanted to go upstairs to Damon because she'd heard when the stake had punctured through Rose's heart. She wanted to go and comfort Damon, but she knew he wouldn't accept it right then, not even from her.

She would have to wait for him to come to her and she knew he would eventually. When he did come downstairs, he had Rose's body in his arms, and there was a mask of indifference.

"Call the sheriff. Tell her we got the vampire," Damon said. "I'm gonna go bury her now."

Rebecca nodded and pulled out her phone. "Okay, but . . . Do you want me to come with you?"

Damon's jaw tightened. "No."

"But you don't need to be alone right now."

"Yes, I do," he claimed. "That's exactly what I need. Just go get Chelsea. I'll be back when I'm done."

Rebecca watched Damon walk out the door and then she dialed Liz's number. When the sheriff answered Rebecca said, "We got the vampire. Um, Damon is going to bury her somewhere no one will find her."

"How'd you find her?"

"Um . . . she found us, actually," Rebecca lied. "We were patrolling the school and that's where we . . . got her."

"Thank you. Ya'll have kept this town safe once again," Liz said before hanging up.

The town was safe again, but at what cost? Damon had lost a friend, had had to kill a friend.

She wished he had let her go with him. She knew he must be hurting. He wouldn't really let anyone help him, though. She knew he wouldn't because he tried to shoulder everything on his own just like she did; neither one of them were good at letting someone take care of them.

Rebecca knew Damon would be gone for a while, but she didn't want to risk him coming home and her not being there so instead of going to Elena's to get Chelsea, she called the brunette and asked her to bring Chelsea back.  
\----------  
At the Grill, Tyler Lockwood had just sat down across from Jules, the woman who had come looking for Mason. She had called his house looking for him, had said she wanted to talk to him, so Tyler had come. Maybe she had found out something about Mason and just needed help finding him. Maybe.

"Thank you for coming," she said.

Tyler nodded. "So what d'you want from me?"

"Just to be your friend. Mason would've wanted that." Jules leaned forward and whispered. "I know about Mason. And you."

"You know what?" Tyler asked. He wasn't going to give away his secret without first making sure that she actually did know.

"I know you're a werewolf. And I know your little friend, Caroline, is a vampire."

"How d'you know about Caroline?" he wondered.

"You can't sniff them out?" The girl seemed confused, but then recognition filled her face, and then sympathy. "Oh. You are brand new. How many times have you turned?"

Tyler didn't answer so the girl reached over and grabbed his hand that was on the table.

"Hey, I can help you."

Tyler removed his hand from hers and placed it on his lap.

"Do you know where Mason is?" Tyler didn't really want help from this woman. He wanted help from his uncle. Mason had been the one to explain the curse to him. It only made sense that Mason should also be the one to teach him how to deal with it.

"He's dead, Tyler. He was murdered."

"No." That couldn't be true. Mason had sent a text stating that he was going back to Florida.

"You wanna know who murdered him? Your little blond vampire did."

"No. Caroline would never do that."

Caroline had put her own life at risk to help him. There was no way that Caroline would've killed his uncle.

"She and her little vampire friends were behind it, Tyler."

"Caroline is the only vampire in town."

"Is that what she told you? She lied. This town is crawling with vampires. But don't worry. We'll get them."

Tyler didn't know what to believe. Jules seemed so sincere in wanting to help him, but he didn't want to believe that his friendship with Caroline had been based on lies. He'd never had anyone be there for him the way Caroline had been.

He didn't want that loyalty to have been false.  
\----------  
After burying Rose, Damon headed straight back to the boardinghouse. Elena's car was in the driveway, he noticed as he parked his car in the garage. He guessed Elena was there to drop Chelsea off.

When he went inside he saw Rebecca and Elena on the couch, but Chelsea was nowhere to be seen. He assumed that meant she was asleep and upstairs in her room. A quick listen later and it was confirmed.

Rebecca stood up and handed him a whole bottle of his favorite bourbon.

"No glass?" he quipped.

"Figured you might need the whole thing."

"Hm." He looked over at Elena. "Baby brother's not home. What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay."

"I appreciate the gesture." Damon took a huge gulp from the bottle he was holding. "I'm just glad it's over."

"You know I don't believe that," Elena said.

"Go home, Elena. Get some rest. It's a whole new day tomorrow."

Rebecca heard the shakiness of Damon's voice and knew he was about to break. She also knew he wouldn't do it in front of Elena.

"Damon, I'm your friend. And a friend usually knows when their friend is hurting."

"What d'you wanna hear?" Damon snapped. "That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well, I didn't and I'm not."

"There you go," Elena said. "Pretending to turn it off, pretending not to feel. Damon, you're so close. Don't give up."

"Elena, go home," Rebecca said. Really, Elena wanted to push about this now? When Damon was hurting the most? Really great timing. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"And you're one to talk about giving up. That's all you've done is give up." Damon pointed to the door. "Go home. There's been enough doom, gloom, and personal growth for one night."

Elena grabbed her stuff and silently walked out the door. Rebecca wasn't watching her, however, because Damon looked like he was about to fall apart.

"Hey," she said softly, stepping up to him and wrapping him in her arms. He looked so young and vulnerable at that moment. She didn't know what to do. One wrong move on her part and Damon would pull away from her.

"Damon, tell me what to do."

His arms came up and held her so tight she could barely breathe. He buried his face in the hair that was resting on her left shoulder and just breathed.

"You cared about Rose. And you're upset," she said, countering his earlier words.

"I feel, Rebecca," he said. "And it sucks."

His voice was muffled, but Rebecca could still hear – feel – the pain residing there. Damon's whole body was trembling and Rebecca was just so lost. How was she supposed to deal with a broken Damon? He'd never been this way before. This was new.

"What sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me. Jules was coming after me."

Of course. Damon was feeling guilty. He had made Jules angry and had become a target for the wolf. Of course, when the wolf had gotten there, Jules had bitten the wrong vampire.

"Oh, Damon, no," Rebecca exclaimed. "You . . . I don't want you to feel that way. It's not your fault."

Rebecca pulled away from him for a moment so she could reach up to touch his face. There was wetness there. Tears.

"Jules was coming at me. Rose pushed me out of the way," Damon said. "She saw the wolf jumping and –"

Oh. Rose had actually saved his life.

Rebecca cupped his face and he met her gaze with his own. She stared at him sternly.

"Damon, I liked Rose. And I'm sorry she had to die, but I am not sorry you are alive. And I'm not sorry that she saved your life."

Damon looked at her and she noticed the insecurity there in his face. Did he really think so little about himself?

She grabbed his hand and gently tugged. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

Rebecca led him upstairs and then to Chelsea's room. She smiled when she heard the snore of her baby sister.

"Look at her, Damon. Listen to her."

Rebecca squeezed Damon's hand and she watched as Damon took in the perfect innocence that was an infant.

"Damon, this is why Rose saved your life. It's because you have one. You have a family now. She understood that and she cared about you."

Damon let go of her hand and Rebecca watched as Damon went to pick Chelsea up. Any other night she would have complained about him getting Chelsea's days and nights mixed up, but she knew Damon needed Chelsea's presence. It would be a reminder that Rose's sacrifice hadn't been in vain.  
\----------  
When Elena got home she met Stefan at the door. She was surprised to see him. She'd tried calling him earlier but he hadn't answered his phone.

"Stefan, you're home."

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Rose?"

Elena shook her head. She didn't feel like talking about Rose. As far as she was concerned all Stefan needed to know was that Rose was no longer alive.

"I, uh – I called Isobel."

"I know. It's okay. Did you find her?"

Stefan grimaced. "I left a message and she called me back. She didn't tell me where she was, only that she was busy. She did say she would come when she had the chance."

Elena shook her head. "Why? She doesn't care about me."

"Maybe she does. You just don't know it."  
\----------  
"Can I tell you a secret?" Damon asked as he and Rebecca entered their bedroom. He'd played with Chelsea for a few moments and then had put her back to bed.

"You can tell me anything," Rebecca replied, bringing his hand up to kiss his knuckles.

"I have a big secret and I've never said it out loud," he confessed. His speech was a little slurred from the copious amounts of alcohol he'd consumed earlier. "I mean, what's the point? It's not gonna change anything. It's not gonna make me good. Make me adopt a puppy."

"Well, you know . . . Stefan would just eat it anyway," she quipped.

Damon appreciated her attempt to lighten the situation. He couldn't bring himself to smile, though, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'm not human, Becca. And I miss it. I miss it more than anything in the world!"

Damon heard Rebecca gasp and then she was caressing his face, wiping away tears that he hadn't been aware were falling.

"That is my secret," he whispered.

"Oh, Damon . . ."

What came next were the sweetest kisses Damon had ever received. He believed she was trying to take the pain away with her lips. He wanted it to work even though he knew it probably wouldn't.

Rebecca reached for his shirt, and before she began unbuttoning it she asked, "Will you let me love you tonight, Damon? Let me take care of you."

Damon didn't like handing the reigns over to anybody ever, but tonight he needed it. He needed to be loved and comforted, and he needed it more than he ever had before.

He missed being human, but Rebecca made him feel like it was okay that he wasn't. That was what he needed tonight, so he gave her permission to love him the way she wanted to.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Caroline came out of her house the next morning to go to school only to find Tyler outside waiting for her, his face looking as if it had been set in stone. She couldn't get a read on his emotions. She hoped everything was okay and things weren't going to be awkward because of the kiss they had shared.

"Hey. How's it going?" she asked cautiously.

"We need to talk."

"Yeah. We do," she agreed and stopped in front of him. "Look . . . I've been thinking about it, and I don't wanna overanalyze. It was just one kiss, but Matt's still kind of in the picture. We can't go there, Tyler."

Tyler nodded. "Fine."

"Great. That's settled." Caroline went around him and began walking to her car, which was parked right in front of her house. "Do you want a ride to school?"

She heard Tyler walking behind her, so she assumed that meant he was coming with her.

"What happened to my Uncle Mason?"

"What?" She spun back around. Why would he be asking her that?

"He's dead, and I want you to tell me what happened."

"Uh, Tyler, I don't –"

"Then let me tell you," he said. "Stefan and his brother Damon killed him because Stefan and Damon are vampires. Just like you."

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"Is it true? Did you know he was dead this whole time?"

"Tyler . . . let me explain."

Before Caroline could say another word, Tyler slammed her against her car. She winced from the pain that shot up her back.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. I'm sorry."

His eyes began to change to that of a wolf.

"I trusted you!" he growled.

Tyler let her go and she watched as he stormed off.

How had he known everything about what had happened to Mason? Who had told him?

As Caroline tried to calm her racing heart, she dug her cellphone out and began dialing Stefan's number. She had so many people she needed to call, to let know that Tyler had found out about Mason, but she figured she would start with the one who would be able to stay calm.  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, Rebecca was in the kitchen making coffee and listening to the news that she had turned on. The report was about the three people that had been killed the night before. There had also been a group of campers and a park ranger who had been found – their bodies had been mutilated so she knew Damon hadn't done it. He didn't really tear people up unless he had to, and even then that was not something he enjoyed doing.

The mayor gave a speech and invited everyone to join together at the Town Square for a memorial service for all the people that had died recently.

Stefan came into the kitchen and gave her a small smile. She half-heartedly returned it.

"I got in touch with Isobel," he told her. "She said she could help, but she's busy right now. She'll come when she can."

"How reliable."

Rebecca didn't want Isobel coming here. Last time she had kidnapped Jeremy and had broken Matt's arm. Not to mention she had thrown Ric for a loop.

"Bonnie's witch friends are working with Elijah," Stefan said.

"Luka and Jonas."

"Yeah. So we have to assume the moonstone was never destroyed. Elena is putting all of her faith into some deal she made with Elijah to keep everyone safe. I mean, do you trust Elijah? I don't trust him. He's an Original. He can't be trusted. It's not like we could just go up and kill him because apparently he can't die!"

Stefan was ranting, almost raving. In fact, he was basically yelling at her. All because she'd said something snarky about him seeking out Isobel.

"Don't yell at me," she said. "I am not the enemy here. For the record, I think you can trust Elijah to keep his word about protecting Elena's friends. And I still don't understand why we must go to Isobel for answers."

"She knew about the sacrifice. She says she knows how to keep Elena safe."

"And? If she's willing to help, why didn't she tell you how over the phone, Stefan? She's probably playing a game with you."

Rebecca was complaining mostly because she felt helpless. Aside from Diana, they had no other way of getting information. Ric only knew what he'd been taught by Isobel, and anyone could bet that Isobel hadn't told Ric everything she knew.

Damon entered the kitchen then with Chelsea in his arms. He immediately tensed, Rebecca noticed, because Stefan was there.

"Hey," she said. "You okay?"

"Hm. Couldn't sleep with all the yelling going on," he said to Stefan.

"Hey. I'm – I'm sorry about Rose."

"Whatever. I knew the woman for . . . five minutes."

"And you cared about her after five minutes," Stefan said. "I wonder what that means."

"It means I care, Stefan," Damon said sincerely. "It means I'm changing and evolving into a man capable of greatness. Better watch your back because I may have to go get a hero hairdo of my own and steal your thunder."

Whatever Stefan had been planning on saying after that, Rebecca never found out because his phone started vibrating and he looked down at it.

"Um . . . I have to go. I'll be back later."

Once Stefan was gone, Rebecca went and kissed Damon on the cheek.

Into his ear, she said . . . "You were always capable of greatness."  
\----------  
"What's wrong?" Stefan asked as soon as Caroline opened the door for him.

"Tyler knows about you and Damon. I didn't say a word. He knows that Damon killed Mason."

"It's that woman, Jules. She had a run-in with Damon."

"Tyler was so upset. The look on his face, he was so betrayed."

"Wow. This is bad."

"You're not gonna tell Damon, are you?" she asked.

"No. He already wants to kill him. He thinks all werewolves should die."

Rose's death by werewolf bite wouldn't have helped Damon get over that prejudice either.

"And he's not wrong to think that, Caroline. I mean, what if Tyler tries to retaliate? He has every right to. He could get himself killed."

"Well, we're not gonna let that happen. We have to get to him and reason with him before he does something stupid. You have to talk to him. Just try to explain. You know, you always know the right things to say. Okay, he and I . . . we're friends. I can't just let him go without a fight."

Stefan wondered if logic would work with Tyler. The problem was that Tyler had Caroline saying and doing one thing while this Jules woman was screaming in his other ear that Caroline had purposefully lied to him just to betray him.

But Stefan would try for Caroline. Nobody else needed to die anytime soon just because of something stupid like an outsider trying to cause problems.  
\----------  
Jules had shown up at the Lockwood Mansion about twenty minutes ago. Tyler had called her right after his confrontation with Caroline. He'd been hurt and he needed someone to talk to. He couldn't believe that Caroline had deceived him the way she had. How had she been able to act so normal around him when she'd known all along that Mason was dead? He'd talked to her about his uncle and she hadn't given even a hint that she'd known anything about his whereabouts.

"I was right, wasn't I? Your little vampire friend, she was lying." Jules shook her head. "I want you to understand that a vampire will never be your friend. It's out nature to be enemies."

"Do you know how stupid that sounds?" Tyler asked. Enemies didn't become enemies for no reason, and it didn't happen by nature.

"You need to leave here. It's not safe."

"I can't just run away with you. I don't even know you. My mom would freak. My life is here."

"Your old life. Your new life is just beginning. You have so much to learn."

"Like what?"

"How to survive. You've triggered the curse, Tyler. It's important you learn what it means to be a lycanthrope. We live by a code of loyalty. We take care of each other. It's my duty and honor to help you. Please let me."

Jules looked so sincere, but Tyler didn't know what to do. He didn't want to just up and leave everything behind because, as he'd told Jules, his whole life was in Mystic Falls. He couldn't leave everything he'd ever known for some woman he'd met only a few days ago.

He didn't want to go through everything alone, though, either.  
\----------  
Stefan had sneaked his way into the Lockwood Mansion and was now in the study, where it seemed that Tyler had set up shop. There was a journal and a laptop on the desk. Tyler's jacket was hanging neatly from the chair behind the desk.

When Tyler came into the room, his eyes widened and he seemed to want to leave. Stefan knew that whatever Jules had been telling him just moments before was probably weighing on his mind. Stefan had arrived in the middle of Tyler's conversation with the she-wolf. Jules was gone now; Tyler had just seen her out.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Stefan said, moving so he could block the exit. "I just wanna talk."

"Then why did you break in?"

"Would you have let me in otherwise?"

They were interrupted by Ms. Lockwood calling Tyler's name. Stefan shook his head to let Tyler know he shouldn't answer. Tyler listened.

Ms. Lockwood said she was getting ready to leave for the memorial service, and when she didn't get a response back she left.

"What happened to Mason?" Tyler asked.

"Tyler, there's a lot for us to talk about."

Stefan watched as Tyler tried to move around him.

"I wouldn't do that. Without a full moon, you're no match for me."

Tyler went and sat on the desk and gestured for Stefan to take the seat in front of him.

"Caroline told me about what happened this morning. No matter what her flaws are, when push comes to shove, you're gonna want that girl on your side. She's your friend. Stop being a jerk to her."

"I thought vampires hated werewolves."

"That's some sort of leftover idea from another time. It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We go to the same school, we have the same friends, and we keep the same secrets. This can work, Tyler. I mean, it's your home. It's my home, too. I want this to work."

Tyler nodded and Stefan was glad that he seemed to understand the situation better.

Tyler's phone vibrated and kept vibrating, so he looked at the ID screen

"It's Jules. If I don't answer, she'll probably come running back."

"Let her know you're busy, that you'll call her back later."

Tyler nodded and Stefan watched as Tyler brought the phone up to his ear. What came out of Tyler's mouth surprised Stefan and he wasn't able to react quickly enough. Tyler was screaming for help into the phone.

"Tyler," Stefan yelled. "I am trying to save you, can't you see that?"

Stefan grabbed the phone and pressed the end button. He tossed the phone on the table. Stefan didn't know how much damage had just been caused, but he knew there would be consequences for what Tyler had done.  
\----------  
Caroline was in the school parking lot getting ready to leave for the day – she'd gone in late after having talked to Stefan. She knew Stefan would take care of it.

Matt had caught up to her, and she noticed that they were the only two left in the parking lot. Matt had had football practice and she had had cheerleading practice. The school had finally hired a new football coach, and that meant everyone had even more practice to do.

"Hey," he said. "You took off yesterday and we didn't get to talk."

"I'm not avoiding you, I swear," she said quickly.

"You're avoiding me a little," Matt countered.

"Okay. Maybe a little."

Caroline smiled when she realized that Matt wasn't mad – though she didn't know why that surprised her, because Matt didn't get mad easily.

"I just felt . . . confused yesterday," she said. "I mean, we broke up because of how ridiculously jealous I was being and I totally understand that. But then yesterday . . . yesterday you kissed me and I kissed back, and –"

"Can we talk later?" Matt interrupted. "I mean, I have to head to work right now, but maybe after? We'll clear up some of this weirdness."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd really like that. I'll just swing by when you're closing."

"Sounds good."

Caroline's stomach clenched in a good way when Matt gave her his boyish smile, and she felt her lips respond in kind.

"Okay. Bye."

Caroline watched Matt go to his truck, get in, and drive off. She felt a small excitement fill her at the thought of maybe getting back together with Matt. Caroline had more control now, so maybe she wouldn't hurt him again.

Before Caroline could get in her car a young blond woman came walking up to her.

"Excuse me. You're Caroline Forbes, right?"

"Yeah," Caroline nodded.

Caroline didn't know this woman and wasn't exactly sure how the woman knew her. She didn't look like someone who would work for the Council, and Caroline had never seen the woman at the police station, so she probably didn't work there, either.

"I'm looking for Tyler. You haven't seen him, have you?"

Werewolf, Caroline thought instinctively. Now that she knew, she could almost smell the canine stench that all werewolves carried with them.

"No, not since this morning. Sorry."

Caroline opened her car door and got ready to get in, but stopped when the woman said, "I know you're lying."

Caroline flung her purse into the front seat and then turned back around to face who must've been Jules.

"Really? How? Is that one of your little wolf tricks?"

Jules smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Actually, it is."

Caroline shut the driver side door and stepped forward. "I have a trick too."

Caroline lunged, fangs down and eyes red, but the woman drew up what looked to be a pepper spray bottle and sprayed it in Caroline's face.

It wasn't pepper spray, however. It was vervain, Caroline realized as the liquid began to burn the skin on her face. She covered her face with her hands until the burning sensation went away.

She growled and lunged again, but the woman was gone. In her place was a man. She'd never seen him before, either, so she had no clue who he was. His identity didn't matter, however, because he had a gun and was pointing it at her head.

She heard a loud bang and saw a bright flash of light and then everything went dark.  
\----------  
Caroline gasped awake and began coughing. She sat up, grabbed at her head, and screamed. She had the worst headache known to man.

She remembered what had happened then. She'd been shot. She ran her fingers over her forehead and found the bullet hole with the bullet still lodged inside. Caroline didn't know what to do – she had never been shot before. She remembered, though, that she had been around Stefan and Damon when they had been shot. In order to get the bullets out they had used their fingers.

"Oh, God," she whimpered. "Please, help me!"

She had to do what she had to do, so two minutes later the bullet was out and the wound was healing. She wiped the blood off of her skin and began to focus. She didn't know where she was, but she knew she was in a cage, and it looked like she was in a camper.

Caroline grabbed the bars of the cage and yanked. She yelled in frustration when she couldn't break the lock. She'd lost too much blood and wasn't strong enough.

When the door to the camper opened, Caroline shrank back against the far wall of the cage. The guy who had shot her was there.

"I see you got the bullet out," he said. "I got lots of wooden bullets and other toys."

Caroline bit her lip to keep from crying out, but a small whimper came out anyway. She had never been this afraid before, not even when she'd first turned and hadn't known what was going on.

"It's gonna be a long night, sweet pea," the guy said and held up a gun – probably the same one he'd shot her with earlier.

This time when he shot her he hit her shoulder. The pain was almost unbearable, and she didn't pass out this time.  
\----------  
Stefan was still at the Lockwood mansion with Tyler when his cellphone vibrated, the ID screen showing up as Caroline. He answered it because he realized she was probably wondering what was taking so long.

"Hey. Everything okay?"

"That depends," a female voice that wasn't Caroline's came over the line. "How badly do you wanna keep her alive?"

"Who is this?" Stefan wondered out loud.

"Ask your brother. Where's Tyler?"

Ask my brother? There was a woman asking about Tyler and threatening Caroline . . .

"Jules," Stefan said when he figured it out. "Where's Caroline?"

Tyler looked at him with concern. The boy didn't hate Caroline, Stefan realized. Tyler had been hurt and confused.

"You made a mistake, Stefan," Jules snapped. "I'm gonna give you a chance to fix it."

"Where is she?"

"Right here. Want proof?"

Stefan heard a door open and close and then a muffled, "He needs proof." Then there was a gunshot – or what certainly sounded like it – and he heard Caroline scream.

"Hurt her again and you're dead," Stefan growled into the phone.

"I hurt her again and she's dead. Bring Tyler to me. The clearing by Wickery Falls. You have twenty minutes until she dies."

The line went dead and Stefan had to keep himself from breaking the phone. He needed it to make a phone call of his own.  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon were playing with Chelsea when Stefan called. Damon had still been in a mood that day and Chelsea seemed to keep him calm. Whatever worked was fine with Rebecca.

Her phone rang and when she saw that it was Stefan calling, her brow crinkled up in confusion. She answered anyway.

"Yes?"

"Hey, is Damon there with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We have a werewolf problem."

Rebecca looked at Damon in confusion.

"I thought werewolves were only dangerous on a full moon."

Damon shrugged. "Maybe their bite is only lethal on a full moon."

"Tyler knows about us and about what happened to Mason. He found out from Jules and confronted Caroline this morning. Now Jules has Caroline and wants to trade for Tyler."

"Okay, how long have you known this?" Rebecca asked.

"I've been with Tyler all day."

"Then why are we just finding out about it now?"

"I just found out myself that Jules has Caroline." Rebecca heard Stefan sigh. "She gave me twenty minutes, Rebecca. We're meeting at Wickery Falls."

"A'right. Damon and I will be there. We have to drop Chelsea off at Elena's, but, um . . . other than that we're heading there ourselves. Stall if you can."

She pressed end and looked at Damon. "You up for it?"

"Absolutely."  
\----------  
"So, how many vampires are in this town, anyway?" the guy with the gun asked Caroline.

She had moved to the far right side of the cage and was refusing to move or talk. She wasn't going to betray the people she loved. She'd played spy for Katherine and had felt awful. She wasn't going there again.

Vervain was suddenly being sprayed in her face again and she screamed.

"Why're you doing this to me?" she exclaimed. She kicked at the cage door more out of rage than any real attempt to escape. "Why're you doing this to me?"

"You're a vampire," he said simply. The guy got up and went to a bag that was in a chair in the corner of the trailer. "Why not?"

Caroline saw he had some sort of weapon and he was sticking something in it. It was one of those things that you could blow into and something would come out of the other end.

What came out was wood – small toothpick-sized shards. They stuck deeply into her neck and she screamed again.

She kicked at the door harder than before and yelled, "Let me out!"

This guy was crazy and prejudiced. He was hurting her only because she was a vampire. The only good thing that could come of this was that he was sadistic – he would take his time. Maybe someone could get to her in time to save her.  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon met up with Stefan where he had told them to at the Falls. He had Tyler with them and he seemed surprised that she was there.

"Can we try not to kill anyone?" Stefan asked. "Let's just trade and get this over with."

Rebecca nodded. "Agreed. Unless Caroline is dead. If Caroline is dead, then Jules is dead."

Damon and Rebecca decided that letting Stefan go first with Tyler would be best. If anything weird happened, Damon and Rebecca could show up and have the element of surprise. Damon and Rebecca were close enough to see but not close enough to be seen.

"Where's Caroline?"

"Locked up tight," came a woman's response.

If Damon's now tense body was anything to go by, this was Jules speaking.

"Let her go and I'll release Tyler. This doesn't have to get any messier than it already has. I'm not your enemy, Jules."

"It's a little late to be waving a white flag, don't you think?"

There was a pause and then Stefan was saying, "You need to leave town. No one else has to get hurt."

"I'm not leaving without Tyler."

"Tyler's free to make his own decisions as soon as you release Caroline."

Rebecca shook her head. Jules wasn't moving and neither was Stefan. They were never getting anywhere this way.

She gestured for Damon to go and then she followed after him.

"My brother the peacemaker," Damon quipped. "Since Stefan got here before me, I'm gonna let him try it his way before I resort to my way, which is a little bloodier. So give us Caroline."

"Let go of Tyler."

"Give us Caroline. Without a full-moon, it's not an even fight and you know it. We will take you."

"I'm not so sure about that, tough guy."

Jules brought her hand up and put two fingers in her mouth, blew, and made a whistling sound. About five other people were there. No, not people. Wolves in human form.

"Let's try this again. Give us Tyler."

Not seeing any other choice, Rebecca sighed and shrugged.

"You heard her," Damon said. "Go. Get over there."

Stefan released Tyler's arm, and the latter went to Jules' side. Rebecca could tell Tyler wasn't really sure that he should be doing that. He probably didn't know who he could trust.

A man came out of the camper that was parked behind Jules and asked, "Which one of you killed Mason?"

"Uh, that'd be me," Damon said, pointing at himself.

"Boys, make sure that one suffers," the guy said, making Rebecca know who she'd be going after.

Damon looked around and said, "We can take 'em."

"I don't know about that," Stefan said honestly.

"Well, then . . ."

Rebecca didn't know what to do. They couldn't leave without Caroline, but with as many wolves as there were, it didn't look like they were getting Caroline back without a fight.

Damon rushed forward toward Jules, but Jules turned around and jumped up, kicked off the side of the camper and did a back flip over Damon's head. Rebecca was impressed when Jules landed neatly on her feet. Her mind was taken off of the move when she felt heat come from beside her. One of the other werewolves had a flame thrower. Stefan flashed behind him and began using the guy to keep the others from touching Rebecca.

Rebecca looked around, trying to figure out what to do. Both Jules and the one Rebecca had wanted to go after for threatening Damon had taken off, but Tyler was still there.

"Go get Caroline," she told him. "If you see an opening, get her out of here."

While she'd been talking to Tyler, Damon had ripped the heart out of one of the werewolves. The guy had tried to attack Damon from above and it hadn't really worked all that well, obviously.

Stefan snapped the neck of the guy with the flame thrower, but then someone with a stake-gun shot one at Stefan, who caught the stake in midair and used it on another werewolf who came after him.

Another stake was shot at him and again Stefan caught it before he could be hurt. This time Stefan threw the stake at the guy who had fired it and hit him in the neck, downing and killing him.

Rebecca saw a problem about to occur but wasn't quick enough to stop it. Someone had rushed up behind Stefan and quickly jabbed a stake into his back, only to pull it out again.

Stefan fell to his knees and groaned in pain. Someone tried to stake Damon, too, but Damon was the better and stronger fighter. He wasn't brought down. Damon ended up body-slamming the guy, and Rebecca realized that the guy Damon was fighting was the one who had threatened him – he had come back.

A shot rang out and Damon fell backwards. He'd been shot in the shoulder. Jules had returned, and she had a gun.

Rebecca wanted to go to Damon, to see if he was okay, but she wanted to get rid of Jules even more. Rebecca began to move, but before she could get two feet away someone grabbed her around the waist and yanked her head to the side none too gently.

The guy Damon had body-slammed got up and picked up a branch that could be used as a stake.

"Wait!" The person behind Rebecca said. "You wanted that one to suffer. Let's kill this one instead."

Both Damon and the other guy looked up. Damon's eyes widened and his canines elongated.

Before any damage could be done, however, everyone became distracted by Caroline and Tyler coming out of the camper. Rebecca used that distraction to grab the man's hand and twist. He screamed as his wrist snapped.

She turned around and kicked him away from her.

What was important now was getting Stefan, Damon, and Caroline out of there. Jules, however, had pointed the gun at Caroline, and the blond was frozen there. Tyler was frozen, too. He was just standing there looking between Caroline and Jules.

Suddenly, all the wolves grabbed their heads and started screaming. It was almost like that aneurism spell Bonnie liked to do on Damon, only this was working on more than one person.

Rebecca ran to Damon to help him remove the bullet Jules had shot into him, and saw a black figure start to approach.

Jonas Martin.

She stared at him and he said, "Elijah made a promise to Elena. I'm here to see it's upheld. You need to go."

Damon got to his feet, as did Stefan, so Rebecca went to Caroline, who seemed shaken but not broken. Rebecca brought her hand up to swipe the hair out of Caroline's face and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You're okay now. We can go."

Caroline bit her lip and nodded her head. Tears were forming in her eyes, but weren't falling over. Rebecca grabbed Caroline's hands and gently pulled Caroline along with her until they had made it back to Stefan and Damon.

As the four vampires walked away, Rebecca heard Jonas say, "When your friends awaken, give them a message. They need to get out of this town."


	29. Chapter Twenty-Eight

"So, is your mom home?" Stefan asked Caroline.

"No. She's at work."

The four vampires had gone back to the boardinghouse so everyone could get some blood. The only one who hadn't been hurt was Rebecca. Damon had been shot and Stefan had been stabbed. Caroline, of course, had been hurt the worst.

"You can stay here if you want to," Stefan said.

"I'm fine, Stefan."

Rebecca noticed that Caroline had a small, brave smile pasted on her face. The blond seemed exhausted, and Rebecca didn't think she needed to be alone.

"Care . . ." Rebecca started, "you should stay. I can call your mom and get her permission, but you should stay."

Caroline shook her head. "I'm okay. You know, I'm not girly little Caroline anymore. I can handle myself."

Even the strongest people need someone to lean on, Rebecca thought. If they aren't too stubborn to accept help.

"At least let me take you home," Rebecca offered. "I have to pick up Chelsea anyway, so it wouldn't be a problem."

Caroline nodded and said, "Okay, good. I just wanna get home and shower, so . . ."

As the girls left the house Caroline said goodnight, and Rebecca shut the door behind them.  
\----------  
A few minutes after Rebecca left, there was a knock on the door.

Damon wasn't expecting anyone, so he looked at Stefan, who shrugged. Apparently he wasn't expecting anyone either.

When he opened the door he was surprised to see Diana Gleeson, Rebecca's ex-Watcher. What was she doing here? Had Rebecca invited her over?

He knew Rebecca had called Diana about the werewolf bite Rose had received so she could look into a cure, but if that was why she was here then she was a little late.

"What d'you want?"

"Is Rebecca here?" she asked.

Damon could tell she was a little nervous because he had opened the door, but she was standing firm. She obviously had something she wanted to say.

"Rebecca has made me aware of your Original problem . . ."

Damon looked at Stefan, who had suddenly become quite interested in the conversation. Damon wondered if he should even give the woman the time of day. She'd almost had Rebecca killed.

"Come in," Stefan said, making the decision for the both of them. "Rebecca isn't here, though."

"That's fine," the woman said. "I come bearing gifts. They were not easy to come by."

The ex-Watcher pulled out a bag and then something that was wrapped in a brown cloth. She laid the cloth down on the nearest flat surface and unwrapped what was inside.

Inside was a dagger and a small vial of something.

"What is that?"

"This is how you kill an Original." Diana picked up the glass container. "In this vial is ash from a white oak tree that dates back to the genesis of the Originals. The dagger must be dipped into the ash and then plunged into their hearts."

Damon grabbed the dagger and looked at it. There was nothing special about it. There weren't any symbols or anything to make him think that this dagger was better than anything else.

"How do you know all this?"

"The Watcher's Council is very good at research."

Diana reached for the knife that Damon had snatched.

"I'll give these to you on one condition." She stared at Damon firmly. "Rebecca can't know about this. She has a weakness when it comes to your kind, and it would get in the way of what needs to be done."

"You want me to lie to her?" Damon asked. His relationship with Rebecca had not been built on lies, and he didn't want to start lying to her now.

"She knows and trusts Elijah, correct?" Diana asked. "Do you really think she would let you hurt him if she knew about the ash and dagger?"

"If it would protect everyone else, yes, she would."

"Hm. Well, use your own discretion, then. But don't say I didn't warn you."  
\----------  
"Ouch!" Caroline exclaimed as Rebecca pulled one of the toothpicks out of her skin.

"Sorry," Rebecca said. "There're only two more."

Before Rebecca could get the last two out, Caroline's phone rang. The screen had Matt's number on it.

"Hi," she answered, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey, did something happen?"

"What?"

"You were supposed to meet me after my shift was over."

"Oh, my –" Caroline almost slapped herself in the head for forgetting that. "I am so sorry, Matt."

"Well, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Something came up with Bonnie and she needed me."

Rebecca pulled another toothpick out and Caroline basically shrieked into the phone. "Ow, that hurt, Rebecca."

Rebecca looked at Caroline sheepishly and grabbed the phone.

"Uh, hey. Give it back!"

"Hey, Matt. You should come over. Caroline's feeling awful. Bonnie didn't need her; she just didn't want you to know she's sick."

Caroline's eyes widened, but the look Rebecca gave her told her to play along.

"Becca, he doesn't need to know how bad I am."

She heard Matt say, "Why didn't she just say so? I thought she was lying to me, because Bonnie's here at the Grill with Jeremy."

"Well, she was lying," Rebecca said. "But only because she didn't want you to worry."

A knock came from the front door, so Caroline gestured that she was going to go see who was showing up at this hour.

It ended up being Tyler.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing he said.

"I'm fine," she said sharply.

"I had no idea they would come for you."

"Do you know what they did to me?" she asked, tears now stinging her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said, his voice shaking. "But it's crazy now. Okay? I don't know who to trust. You lied to me."

"I lied to protect my friends," Caroline countered. "I lied to protect you. Don't you get that?"

"Caroline –"

"You just stood there. When they were going to kill us, you just stood there. You didn't do anything!"

"I didn't know what to do!"

"You help your friend. That's what you do!" Caroline stated.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's too late. Because we're not friends anymore. And what happened to me tonight, that will never happen again. So you take that back to your little werewolf pack and you get outta my house!"

Caroline slammed the door in his face and refused to look back to see if he had walked away.  
\----------  
The confrontation with Caroline hadn't gone as planned, Tyler thought, as he made his way back to the camper where Jules and the others were staying.

"I'm sorry about your friends," he said as soon as they let him in the camper.

Brady, the one who had taken on Damon earlier, gestured for Tyler to sit down and so he did. Brady was drinking whiskey from a bottle and when Tyler was offered some he took a few gulps, savoring the warmth he felt in his throat and chest as the alcohol went down.

"It's not always like this, is it?" Tyler asked.

He'd seen more violence in one night than he'd seen his whole life. He didn't want to live like that.

"No," Jules answered.

"You're living in vampire country, that's all."

Tyler had always known something had been weird with Stefan. Nobody normal could come in and take over as easily as Stefan Salvatore had. But Rebecca and Caroline? Caroline had helped him so much these last few weeks, and Rebecca had been nice to everyone. How were they vampires?

"Mason didn't tell me anything about it. He was gone. Dead, I guess, before he could help me."

"I don't get what Mason was even doing here in the first place," Brady said.

"His brother died. You know that, Brady," Jules said.

"But why was he stupid enough to stay and get himself killed?"

"Because of this rock that he was trying to find," Tyler answered. "A moonstone."

Brady and Jules shared a look and Jules said, "I had no idea."

"What?"

"Did he find it?" Brady asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah."

"Where is it now?"

"I couldn't tell you."

Both Jules and Brady looked disappointed, and Tyler really wanted to know the big deal about this moonstone business. Mason had been after it, and now Jules and Brady were also acting strange about it.

So what was up with that? If it was some weird werewolf thing, didn't Tyler need to know?

If it hadn't been for the fact that Jules and Brady had lost so many friends that night, Tyler probably would've pushed for some answers. As it was, they were planning on burning the bodies that night.  
\----------  
The next morning Elena got a call from Stefan. He woke her up with the call, actually.

"Hello?" she answered, sleep still in her voice.

"Hey. How do you feel about getting away for the weekend? Just you and me?"

"Uh . . . That sounds great, but where would we go?"

"That is up to you. But I will say that I overheard Alaric earlier. He was supposed to go to some summer house with Jenna, but she got roped into the historical society's high tea."

"My family's lake house," Elena said. "Um . . . That would be exactly what I need right now. I might even be able to go swimming."

"Ooh, skinny dipping, maybe?" Stefan teased.

"Stefan!" Elena giggled. That was so unlike him, but Elena loved his rare bursts of humor.

"I'll pick you up at noon."  
\----------  
"Ignore it," Damon said as Rebecca's phone rang yet again. It had been ringing off the hook for about an hour.

He kissed her neck hoping to distract her, but she wasn't to be distracted.

"I have to at least see who it is!" she exclaimed.

Damon rolled his eyes but reached over for the cell phone Rebecca had left on the nightstand.

Robert, the I.D. screen read.

"It's your dad." Damon grinned and handed over the phone. "Perfect timing. Go ahead and answer."

"I don't trust that grin. It's mischievous."

Damon shrugged and she answered.

"Finally," her dad snapped over the line. "I've called you ten times."

"I know. I was busy and couldn't answer. I –"

Damon bit down on her hip bone – nibbled, really – and smirked up at her when she let out a small squeal.

"Rebecca? Are you okay?" Robert asked.

"Um . . . fine. I was going down the stairs and missed a step."

"Well, be careful." There was a pause, but then Robert said, "I was supposed to go to the Lockwood's today for the High Tea the historical society is holding, but I'm also supposed to meet with my construction crew. Do you think you can fill in for me at the Lockwood's?"

"Um . . ."

"You, Damon, and Chelsea can go. It's not super fancy, but semi-formal. Some author is writing a book about small towns in Virginia."

"A writer? Who?"

Damon began kissing her stomach hoping she'd get the hint that he wanted her to get off the phone.

"Uh, Elijah Smith."

"Oh . . ."

Damon stopped kissing her and quickly made his way to his side of the bed. He nodded to let her know she should say yes.

"Um . . . Sure. I think I may have met this Elijah at Elena's a few days ago. He was picking up a lot of the Gilbert's family history stuff."

"Good. Thank you. I'll let you know how the meeting goes with the crew. We may be able to start rebuilding soon."  
\----------  
Rebecca and Damon made their way downstairs after they got dressed. Damon was in his usual all black, but Rebecca had chosen a white blouse and grey slacks with white heels.

They were planning on taking Chelsea with them like Robert had suggested, but they were planning on letting her sleep until it was time to go.

Ric was downstairs talking to Stefan when Rebecca and Damon got into the living room.

"Oh, good. You're here," Damon said. "We need to talk."

Damon went over to the table by the couch and stopped by an old-looking piece of cloth.

"Diana stopped by last night. She gave me this to kill Elijah."

Rebecca watched as Damon unwrapped what was in the cloth. It looked like a knife of some sort.

"She said you have to dip the dagger into the remains of an old white ash tree that dates back to the Originals. If there's any truth in that."

"Why didn't you tell me she came by?" Rebecca asked. "And how are we supposed to get our hands on the remains of a tree that was around back then?"

"I didn't tell you because she seemed to think that you would hesitate to kill Elijah. I happen to agree with that. The only reason I'm telling you right now is because we don't lie to each other. That's not what our relationship is built on."

"Hm . . ." Rebecca knew why everyone thought she'd hesitate to kill Elijah. She knew him and actually kind of liked him. That didn't mean that she trusted him, however. "And the remains?"

Damon shrugged. "I have a vial of it right here."

Rebecca looked at the small glass container Damon held up. It looked like those small jars people used to put sand or seashells in when they visited the beach.

"Well, how do you know this is gonna work? I don't trust her. She almost got me killed. Twice," Rebecca said.

"Ric is going to research it," Damon said. "Aren't you?"

"I've got nothing better to do. Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's lake house for the weekend, but we both got roped into this historical society's thing at the Lockwood's."

"Where Elijah is going to be the guest of honor," Damon commented.

"Tell me you're not gonna kill him at the tea party," Ric said.

"No. That would be stupid."

Ric didn't look convinced, so Rebecca said, "Chelsea and I are going to be there. He wouldn't risk us."

"And I wanna know his end game before I kill him. But I do think it's time Elijah and I officially met."

Rebecca hadn't thought about it, but it was true that Damon had never really talked to Elijah.

"I can introduce you, but don't make him angry. Okay? We don't know anything about this dagger or if it's gonna work. Promise me you won't use it unless we find something out."

What Damon had said was true. Their relationship was built on honesty and trust. If he promised he wouldn't use the dagger without finding out more about it, then he wouldn't use the dagger.

He promised.  
\----------  
While Rebecca was getting Chelsea dressed for the party, Caroline called and she got Bonnie on the line as well. They started their three way conversation with Caroline letting Rebecca know that she was helping Bonnie with a spell to find out more about Elijah.

"I'm gonna ask Luka to tell me what he knows," Bonnie said simply.

"And he's not gonna tell you anything," Caroline said.

"Wait," Rebecca said. "I thought you said you were working on a spell."

"Well, I didn't say he was gonna have a choice," Bonnie said.

"Is this where magic comes in?"

"Yup."

Rebecca saw Damon come in the room and gestured for him to not speak. She didn't know how Bonnie would feel about Damon listening in.

"I'm gonna give Luka a strong roofie-type drug. It'll break down the barriers in his mind, so I'll be able to dig around without any trouble."

Dig around Luka's mind unhindered? Rebecca wondered if that was how compulsion worked.

"Will it damage him?" Rebecca asked softly.

"Maybe he'll have a migraine or feel hungover, but no lasting harm."

"Okay. Good. I wish I could be there for that, but I'm gonna be at the historical thing. I'm filling in for my dad."

"Well, just leave your phone on and we'll text you when we have everything set up. It might take a while, so the party might be over."

"Good."

Rebecca knew that Bonnie was really only letting her in on everything because Rebecca could be helpful. She and Bonnie had a sort of truce going on. As long as the witch didn't pick on Damon unduly, they were okay.  
\----------  
Tyler had found his way back to the camper that Jules' pack was staying in and near. He was surprised she was still there.

"That guy last night made it pretty clear that you need to leave," he told her.

"And we will soon," she said sincerely.

Brady and another guy that looked no older than fifteen came from around the trailer. Tyler looked at them suspiciously. Jules grabbed his attention, though, when she spoke.

"Look, we kind of need your help with something."

"We need you to help us find the moonstone," Brady said.

"Somebody needs to explain to me what the big deal is about this rock," Tyler said.

"That rock helps break the curse of the sun and the moon."

"I don't know what that means."

"It's an old curse placed on both vampires and werewolves," Jules explained. "Vampires break the curse, they're free to walk in the sunlight, but we're stuck only turning at the full moon."

"A.K.A? Werewolf Armageddon."

"But if we break it," Brady continued, "they're stuck as nightwalkers and we can turn whenever we want."

"A.K.A. Werewolf domination."

"Tyler, if we can turn at will, that means we never have to turn at all," Jules said. "Not if we don't want to."

"I'd never have to turn again?" Tyler questioned. No wonder Mason had wanted the stone so badly. Tyler had been able to tell that Mason hated what he was just by how he'd tried to warn Tyler away from it.

"If those vamps are gearing up to break the curse, they have found the doppelganger."

"The doppelganger?"

"Evil-twin shadow person," the young one said. "We're betting that Mason's hot vampire chick, Kathy, knows all about it, so we need you to help us find Kathy. I have a, uh, picture."

Tyler thought this guy was nuts. Werewolves and vampires trying to break a curse with a rock? And now doppelgangers? Evil shadow people?

"Mason brought her to the bar once," the young one spoke again. "No one liked her. She was a vampire. Bad news."

Tyler took the phone from him and looked at the picture the guy had on the screen. Mason was there, but so was a curly-haired brunette – and her name was not Kathy.

"That's Elena Gilbert," he said. "I've known her my whole life."

Jules and Brady looked at each other and then back at Tyler.

"What can you tell us about her?"

"Well, her name isn't Kathy, for one."

After Tyler found out that the girl from the picture was a girl named Kathy and that Elena was the woman's look-alike Jules had asked if he could find out where Elena was going to be in the near future.

There weren't any school events coming up and she wasn't going to be at the historical thing at the mansion, so he didn't know. He knew someone who would.  
\----------  
He met Caroline as she was leaving the Grill. He almost backed away because of the amount of venom she'd hit him with.

"Look, it's important."

He grabbed at her am and her pocketbook fell to the floor, spilling its contents here and there.

"Just stop it, Tyler," she said, leaning down to pick up her stuff. "You're just – you're just making it worse."

Tyler bent down to help her and said, "Look, I'm sorry about what happened, Caroline, but there's so much that we need to talk about."

"I said, just leave me alone!"

Once Caroline's things were off the floor she jumped up and went out the door. She hadn't seen it, but Tyler had swiped her phone and it was now in his back pocket.

When he stood up, he was confronted with Matt, who didn't look entirely happy.

"What's goin' on with you and Caroline?"

"There's nothing going on. We argued, that's all."

"Uh-huh."

"I like her," Tyler admitted. "But she's still into you, and I screwed up anyway."

Tyler went past Matt and went outside. He took the phone out of his pocket and swiped the screen to unlock it – thankfully there was no password.

He found Elena's number in the contacts list and sent her a message.

Need to talk. Where are you? – Care

Headed to the lake house with Stefan. You okay? – Elena

All good, never mind. Have fun. – Care

Dunham Lake, Tyler thought. Elena and her family had vacationed there every summer for as long as he could remember. The house was about two hours away, driving distance. It wouldn't take too long to go and at least talk to Elena.  
\----------  
"You a'right?" Stefan asked as he pulled up and parked in front of the lake house. It was more like an oversized log cabin, but it was still nice. There was a garage that was more like a small work space on one side of the house, and on the other side was a small lean-to that had firewood under it. There would probably be no need for it unless Elena just wanted it for a warm atmosphere.

The lake was beautiful with the sun sparkling on the surface. He couldn't wait to go get comfortable on the pier with Elena. The breeze from the water would feel amazing.

"I'm good," Elena answered. "I just haven't been back here since before . . ."

Since before her parents' death, Stefan realized.

"Oh . . . Elena, listen. Just say the word, okay? We'll get back on that highway and we'll go anywhere else."

Elena smiled and shook her head. "I've always loved it here. I want it to stay that way. I was just having a moment."

"Okay."

Stefan played with her hair for a moment and then they both got out of the car. Elena led him to the front door, picking up a key from a fake rock on the way.

Stefan let her unlock the door and, since he couldn't get in, she went in first. He let her take a moment to get used to being there without her parents and knew she was finished when she turned back around.

"You don't have to wait out there. I'm all good."

"Oh, that's great because I'm, uh –" Stefan gestured to the doorway. "I'm stuck."

"You can't get in," she said.

Stefan didn't like her tone. It wasn't promising for a romantic weekend.

"It's not gonna be a very romantic weekend unless you, uh, invite me inside."

"Stefan, I can't." She looked at him regretfully. "My parents left this place to Jenna, not to me. She's the only one who can invite you in. I'm sorry, I completely forgot."

Stefan was standing there, Elena just out of reach.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Elena pursed her lips and then smiled. "Stefan Salvatore, I hereby invite you into this home."

Relief spread through him. Relief and the desire to get revenge for her teasing.

"You are such a liar," he said, playfully grabbing her and picking her up.

She giggled and he began kissing her. He loved giggly-Elena. He didn't see much of her and he wasn't going to take her playfulness for granted.

Elena wrapped her legs around his waist and Stefan placed her on the nearest flat surface, which just happened to be the kitchen table.


	30. Chapter Twenty-Nine

When Rebecca, Chelsea, and Damon got to the Lockwood mansion they went on inside. Rebecca immediately homed in on Elijah, who was talking to Carol Lockwood. Rebecca went to Carol first and made sure she knew that Robert wasn't going to be there because he was at the construction site of the old Salvatore house.

Carol introduced Elijah and told him that both Rebecca's and Damon's families dated back to the founding of Mystic Falls.

"Pleasure to meet you," Damon said.

"No. Pleasure's mine," Elijah said, offering his hand for Damon to shake. Damon accepted.

When Elijah looked at Rebecca he said, "I believe I've already met the enchanting Rebecca Stone. She briefly helped Jenna with the historical family artifacts the Gilberts had hidden away."

"Yes, I did," Rebecca said. "And I was actually hoping that you, Damon, and I could speak privately. It won't take but a moment."

"Of course," Elijah accepted gracefully.

Rebecca smiled and looked at Carol. "Would you mind us using the study for a few minutes?"

"Oh, sure." Carol began leading the way. "Would you like me to watch Chelsea?"

"That would be great," Damon said. "As Rebecca said, we won't take long."

Once in the room, Elijah said, "What can I do for you, Damon?" Then to Rebecca, "He is the one who wanted to set this up, yes?"

Rebecca nodded. "He wanted to meet you, officially."

"Hm. Where is Elena?"

"Safe with Stefan," Damon answered. "They're layin' low. You know, a bit of a werewolf problem."

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that," Elijah said.

"I'm sure you did since it was your witch who saved the day," Damon quipped.

"You are welcome," Elijah said.

"Which adds to my confusion as to why you're here."

Damon seated himself on the edge of the table that was probably used by Carol now when she was dealing with local politics.

"Why don't you just stay focused on keeping Elena safe? And leave the rest to me."

Elijah turned to walk out of the study, but Damon sped to block the exit. Rebecca had to keep from shouting out for Damon to be careful; he shouldn't be making enemies with an unknown threat.

"Not good enough," Damon said darkly.

Before Rebecca could blink, Elijah had pinned Damon to the wall, a hand holding Damon by the throat. Elijah wasn't really choking him, but he was using enough strength to keep Damon from moving.

Damon began choking Elijah, but it didn't faze him. The Original was stronger than Damon, so when Elijah removed Damon's hand from his throat Rebecca actually heard the bones grind in Damon's wrist.

"Elijah, no!" Rebecca grabbed onto Elijah's arm and pulled. No, she couldn't actually move him, but she did shake him a little. "Please."

"You young vampires. You're so arrogant," Elijah said with disgust apparent in his voice. "How dare you come in here and challenge me?"

"You can't kill me," Damon said. "It's not part of the deal."

"Damon, shut up!" Rebecca hissed.

"Yes, Damon," Elijah said. "Shut up. I'm an Original. Show me a little respect."

Before Rebecca knew what was happening, Elijah had a pencil in his hand and was rushing it towards Damon's neck. She couldn't stop his momentum, but she could keep the pencil from touching Damon.

Rebecca groaned as the pencil went through the palm of her hand. Tears filled her eyes and she wanted to scream, but she wouldn't let herself.

For a few seconds, Elijah seemed appalled that he'd hurt her, but then he seemed to shrug it off.

"The moment you cease to be of use to me, you're dead, so you should do what I say. Keep Elena safe."

Elijah let Damon go, and Damon almost hit the floor. Rebecca glared at Elijah and pulled at the pencil until the offensive thing was completely out of her hand.

"Don't threaten us again, Elijah. Original or not, you don't want me as your enemy."

Elijah actually grinned at her before walking away. He probably thought she was just being protective, but he didn't know what she was capable of.

If it came down to it, she could take him.  
\----------  
As Damon watched Elijah leave he was distracted by the smell of Rebecca's blood. She still wasn't healing the way she should, which meant she wasn't feeding the way she should. This made the third time that she'd been hurt and hadn't healed instantly. It was also the third time he was going to have to remind her to feed from a human.

He grabbed her hand and was relieved to see that her wound was closing, just not quickly. It didn't change the fact that she'd been hurt because of him and for him, but at least she would heal eventually.

"Rebecca, may I ask why you won't feed from the vein?" his voice was soft, but it also had an edge to it.

"Because I know everyone in this town. Unless they willingly let me drink from them, it would be weird for me."

Damon sighed, exasperated. "If we went to another town, would it make it easier?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I've only fed from the vein about three times, Damon. Only one of those was with you. I don't want to risk killing someone just because I'm inexperienced. I mean, I don't even know how to control the blood flow yet!"

Damon realized this was true. He hadn't been able to teach her. With everything that had been going on since she'd turned, he hadn't been able to spend as much time teaching her the abilities she needed to survive as a vampire.

"Okay. We need to get you home, and you drink as much as you need, okay? This weekend we'll go out. Stefan's not home, so it's the perfect time."

Tentatively, Rebecca nodded and began smiling.  
\----------  
At the lake-house, Elena was standing on the pier with Stefan. She was wrapped in a thin blanket because the wind coming off of the lake was chilly. Stefan had his arms wrapped around her, and she was just basking in the memories that were coming back to her.

Jeremy had broken his arm jumping into the water when he'd been six. The reason he'd jumped in the first place was because she had, and he'd wanted to be like his big sister.

Her dad had taught her how to fish one summer when they had come to relax. Elena had then helped teach Jeremy. That was before he'd gotten into video games, of course.

"Do you ever think about us?" she asked Stefan. "What our future will be like? Our memories?"

"I think there are a lot of conversations to be had about our future, about the kind of life we could have together."

"Now, there's a box that we shouldn't open."

Elena knew he was talking about vampirism. Elena didn't want to think about becoming a vampire. She knew it was an option; she wasn't stupid. But she also knew she didn't want to be a vampire. She didn't want to become a killer.

"Oh, we can open it. Whenever you're ready."

"No. I'd rather just be here," Elena said. "Now."

Stefan hugged her tighter to him. "You know, this is a future memory."

He whispered, "I love you," in her ear and then Elena giggled because his breath tickled her skin.

"Come on," he said. "I'll make us some dinner."

Elena had called the local grocer and had asked them to deliver a few things for the weekend. Dinner sounded amazing right then.

"My dad did all the cooking too," Elena said. "My mom sat on the couch and watched. She couldn't cook either."

As they went in the house, Stefan went to the kitchen and Elena went towards her parents' old bedroom. Everything looked the way her memory told her it should. Checkered-pattern sheets on the bed, magazines and a lamp on the bedside table, pictures and paintings on the lavender walls, her mom's cosmetics on the dresser by the door, her mom's perfume.

Elena went to the dresser and picked up what had been her mom's favorite perfume. It smelled of jasmine.

Jenna was supposed to have packed all this up, but Elena was glad that she hadn't.

Elena went to the closet and started going through her mom's old clothes. Elena accidentally hit the wall on the right side of the closet and when she did so, she realized that it wasn't solid. The wall obviously had something inside.

Elena began to feel around the wall and finally found a small enough slit to fit her fingernails in and she was able to pull a board loose. Three more came after it.

There was a door hidden behind the boards she'd just removed, and the door was locked.

"Stefan!" she exclaimed softly. She wanted him to know it was important, but she didn't want to alarm him.

"Yeah?" she heard him in the doorway.

"There's a door here. It was hidden, so . . ."

Stefan came and she could see he was all serious now. He gestured to the lock and she nodded. She wanted to know what was inside. Or at least she thought she did. But what if her parents had been closet freaks or something? She wasn't going to find whips or chains or anything like that, right?

Right.

What she did find, however, were weapons. A crossbow, stakes, even a scythe that looked as if it were used for beheading.

"Oh, my God."

Elena had known the Gilberts were part of the council and that they were a founding family. What she hadn't known was that, apparently, her parents had hunted vampires too.  
\----------  
After Damon had helped clean Rebecca off, she'd gotten a phone call from Caroline. They had Luka, and she, Bonnie, and Jeremy were at Caroline's getting ready to perform the spell to try and read Luka's mind.

"We only have an hour or two before my mom gets home," Caroline said. "So we need to hurry."

"How does it work?" she asked.

"Um . . . I'll put him in a trance and ask him questions," Bonnie answered. Apparently, Caroline had her on speakerphone. "It's like hypnosis."

Damon had Chelsea in his arms and was leading Rebecca to the car. She knew he'd be able to hear everything that was said, so she wouldn't have to bother repeating anything that was being said.

"He's waking up," Bonnie said. "I have to go."

"You guys be careful," Rebecca said before hanging up.

"Ugh. He's gonna be hard to kill," Damon said, opening the car door for Rebecca.

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't antagonize everybody . . ." Rebecca muttered. "What if Elijah isn't the bad guy? What if he really means what he told Elena?"

"What if he didn't?"

Rebecca sighed and shook her head. She didn't speak again for the whole ride home.

When they got home Rebecca got out and said, "Can you get Chelsea? I really need some blood. My hand is still sore."

"Yeah, sure."

Rebecca smiled a little and then made her way inside. She never made it to the basement.

Apparently, they needed to start locking the doors. Anybody could just walk in – any werewolf could just walk in.

"Oh, really?" she mumbled. "You were supposed to leave!"

Jules was there. Why she was there, Rebecca didn't know. Jules had a shotgun in her hand. That couldn't be good.

Damon and Chelsea were outside, at least.

"Look, I have a baby sister. She's not even two yet. Whatever you're going to do, just leave her out of it, okay? She's completely innocent."

Jules softened just a bit. "We won't touch her. Give us the moonstone and no one has to get hurt."

"I don't have it," Rebecca said honestly. "I'm not sure what happened to it."

"Hm." Jules raised the gun. "Pity."

Then all Rebecca knew was pain. Jules had pulled the trigger and Rebecca was now filled with little pellets.

The gun had been loaded with buckshot.

She wasn't even able to scream, she was in so much pain. She could barely move or breathe. She was too weak.  
\----------  
Outside the boardinghouse, Damon was having his own struggle. He'd been getting Chelsea out of her car seat when he'd felt a presence behind him. Before he was able to turn around, a needle was stuck into the side of his neck.

Vervain.

Damon flipped onto his back to try and knock whoever it was off, but it didn't work. He heard something that sounded suspiciously like a gunshot and then a woman was coming out of the boardinghouse and it wasn't Rebecca.

"Hi, Damon," the woman said. She had a smile on her face. "Nice to see you again."

Jules had obviously shot Rebecca, and Damon couldn't do anything about it because he'd been vervained, was still being vervained.

He felt the needle being pulled out as he lost consciousness. He knew he must have a full syringe of vervain in his system now. He would be out for a while.

Rebecca and Chelsea were now at the mercy of werewolves.  
\----------  
At the lake-house, Elena was still going through her parents' things and had come across a box of journals that had belonged to Jonathan Gilbert. They were dated from 1864 to 1865.

She also found wooden bullets, sharpened to points, probably so they could be used to actually kill a vampire and not just wound one.

"I'm gonna go outside for a bit," Stefan said. "Let you have your space. Yell if you need anything."

Elena barely heard him. She did need space, and she was curious. She wanted to read about her ancestor and what his life had been like.

There was no reason why she shouldn't start now.  
\----------  
When Damon awoke, the first thing he realized was that he couldn't move. He was chained to a chair, and there was no way he could undo the bonds. He was too weak. Second thing he realized was that his neck was killing him. He had some sort of wooden collar on and there were spikes – which were also wooden – digging into his skin, leaving bloody marks behind.

He looked around, only moving his eyes, and saw Rebecca off to the side, her hands and feet bound also with chains. Her chest was bloody and he made the connection between the shot he'd heard before he'd blacked out and Rebecca's wounds.

He groaned a little and lifted his head. Chelsea was nowhere to be found, but a young guy was standing beside Rebecca. He looked like someone who should've been at home playing video games, not at someone's house thinking about torture.

"Morning, Sunshine."

Damon's head fell backwards and hit the chair. This shouldn't have been happening. These werewolf-types should've been gone already.

"I saw this movie once, some torture-porn flick," the teen said. "Anyway, they had this collar device that was really cool, so I just modified it some with some wooden nails, and when I pull . . ."

Damon hadn't realized until then that the guy had another set of chains in his hands. They were connected to the collar on Damon's neck and when the guy pulled, the spikes on the collar dug deeper into Damon's neck.

Damon tried not to scream, but it felt as if the guy was trying to tear his head off.

He heard Rebecca start to scream, too, even though moments before she had been unconscious.

The pulling stopped and yet Rebecca continued to scream. She had awoken to having bullets still in her. Damon didn't know if Jules had used metal or wood, but either way the pain would be terrible.

"So I hear you have the moonstone," Jules said, coming into the room.

"Oh, I told you we didn't have it," Rebecca said weakly.

"The thing is, I don't believe you," Jules seethed. "You have it, or you know where it is."

"Let me tell you how this is gonna go," Damon said. "You're gonna torture me, I don't talk, someone loses a heart."

Rebecca groaned again, and Damon caught her gaze. She was basically glaring at him, telling him not to mention Mason, which he'd been about to do, but he couldn't taunt the enemy right now because they had Rebecca tied up too.

"What if we torture her? Will you talk then? She doesn't look like she can take much more."

Rebecca couldn't take much more, there was no doubt there.

"You touch her and I'll find a way to break these chains and I will kill you."

Damon grew even tenser when Jules picked up the shotgun she'd obviously already used on Rebecca.

Before anything could happen, however, Rebecca's phone began to ring. Everyone froze and Jules stepped toward Rebecca. Jules had taken Becca's phone.

"Expecting a phone call?"

Rebecca shook her head.

"Good. You don't have to answer and pretend everything's fine."  
\----------  
At the lake-house, Stefan was still outside giving Elena her space. He had known, of course, that the Gilberts' had been one of the founding families, and Elena had also known. Stefan guessed it had never occurred to Elena that her parents had probably fought vampires too.

Stefan made his way toward the work shed that he had just spotted, but when he got there he was confronted by the werewolf that had spent the better part of yesterday torturing Caroline. Tyler was there too.

The one Stefan knew was bad news held up a gun and shot him right in the heart. Stefan fell to his knees and heard the guy say, "Keep him down," to Tyler. He even gave Tyler the gun.

"If he moves, kill him."

Tyler was then handed a stake and he was left alone with Stefan. Why were they here? If all the werewolves wanted was to kill vampires, why had they only wounded him?

"Don't move," Tyler said.

"Help me get the bullet out. It punctured my heart. I need to get it out. I'm not gonna fight you."

"I don't think so," Tyler said. "I can't let you break the curse."

The curse? Tyler thought he wanted to break the curse? Why would he think that?

"We don't wanna break the curse, Tyler. We don't wanna do that."

"Oh, yeah?" Tyler shot Stefan in the leg and Stefan yelled. "Well, I do. I can't be like this forever."

"Tyler, I'm just tryin' to save Elena."

"Elena will be fine."

"Is that what they told you?" Stefan groaned, flipping over and trying to stand up. "Tyler, Elena has to die for the curse to be broken."

Tyler lowered the gun a fraction of an inch and Stefan smiled sadly at him.

"Who are the liars now?"  
\----------  
"Stefan?" Elena called out as she stepped onto the front porch. She'd gone through some of the weapons that had apparently belonged to her parents and had even gone through a few pages of the Gilbert journals. She would read more of those later, but right then she just wanted to see Stefan.

Stefan, who would've come running when he'd heard her call him, and he would have heard her. Something was obviously wrong.

Elena backed up and slowly made her way into the kitchen where she grabbed the knife Stefan would have used to cut up vegetables for dinner. The blade looked like something from a Michael Myers movie.

She went back to the front door and went outside again. Maybe she'd been jumping to conclusions, but the knife sure was a nice safety precaution.

"Stefan? What're you doing out there?"

She felt a presence behind her and instinctively turned around to shove her knife into the person who'd sneaked up on her. She realized too late that the person may have been human, but she didn't care. She rushed past him and slammed the door as soon as she got in the house. She locked it, too, and then began rushing upstairs. Maybe she could use one of her parents' weapons.

The front door burst open as Elena reached the top of the stairs, and Elena had to force herself to keep going. She wanted to freeze from fright.

"I can smell you," the man said loudly.

Elena, who had reached her parents' room by now, realized she couldn't risk staying in there now that she knew he had the advantage of smell.

She quickly removed her over-shirt and left it on the bed to mislead the man. Who was he, anyway? What did he want? And what had he done with Stefan?

She sped across the hall to her old room and heard the man stomping up the stairs. She held her breath so she wouldn't make as much noise, and waited for the sound of his footsteps to fade away. Only then did she make her way out of the room and back downstairs.

She didn't go outside, however, because she knew that if something had happened to Stefan she wouldn't stand a chance out in the open. She slammed the door, hoping the house was so full of her scent that he wouldn't be able to tell that she had gone back into the kitchen.

She grabbed another knife and hid behind the door. She silently cursed when she heard the footsteps coming towards the kitchen. When he was in clear view, she jumped out and sharply jabbed the knife into his shoulder. She yanked it back out and took off running towards the back door.

She felt his presence behind her and knew he was chasing her. Once she got past the door, however, she heard a scream and, against her better judgment, turned around. She was glad she had.

Stefan was there. He looked weak, but he had ripped the heart out of the guy who had been chasing her.

Ignoring the body of the guy, Elena flung herself into Stefan's arms and fought the sobs that wanted to break free.

She's been attacked and could've died. Story of her life, really, but it didn't make it any easier.

Footsteps sounded from her left and she saw Tyler standing off to the side. He seemed almost as traumatized as she was.

"I didn't know what they were gonna do to you. I didn't. I just – I just don't wanna be like this anymore."

Elena let go of Stefan and went to Tyler. She hugged him mostly because he really looked like he needed one. No one had mentioned it except for Caroline, but Tyler was probably really confused. He hadn't known about any of the supernatural stuff until recently, and now here he was – a werewolf.

"I'm sorry, Elena."

"It's okay."

She held him tighter and began rubbing his back. She would be so glad when all of this was over. Maybe then she would be able to know all of her friends would be happy and safe.  
\----------  
"You know what the great thing about buckshot is?" Jules asked, leaning over Rebecca, who was fighting to stay conscious. "It scatters through the body. Maximum damage."

She turned the gun toward Damon, and Rebecca's eyes widened a little, but she wasn't able to do much of anything else.

"Get over it, honey," Damon said. "You're never gonna get it."

"You lookin' for this?" a familiar and welcome voice asked from the doorway.

Elijah! Rebecca just about passed out from relief – as if the exhaustion and pain weren't enough. She had called him when Jules had left her on the floor after shooting her. Rebecca had faked being unconscious and then when the lady-wolf had gone, Rebecca had taken full advantage. That was probably how Jules had gotten hold of her phone. She hadn't been able to put it back.

Elijah made his way into the room and showed off the stone in his hand – proof that Bonnie and Luka hadn't destroyed it. He placed it on a table close to the exit and shrugged and gestured toward it.

"Go ahead. Take it."

What? He had gone to all this trouble to get to it, and now he was just going to give it away?

One of the wolves tried for it and lost his heart because of the effort, and two more suffered the same fate. Jules quickly left, and then only one of the wolves remained: the one that had been torturing Damon. That wolf was cowering on the floor next to the chair Damon was chained to.

"What about you?" Elijah asked. "Wanna take a shot?" The boy was yanked up and he immediately shook his head. "No? Yes? No?"

Elijah looked around and then his gaze landed on Damon.

"Where's the girl?"

"I don't know."

"Well, it doesn't really matter."

Elijah punched the boy so hard his neck snapped, and he fell to the floor, dead. Elijah pulled at the chains binding Damon to the chair and the links broke easily.

"Do you realize this is the third time I've saved your life now?" Elijah asked.

Rebecca noticed he looked haughty, but he didn't sound haughty. He seemed to be reminding them of the fact that he was keeping his word.

"Damon . . ." Rebecca said weakly. She needn't have said anything. He was already trying to stand up so he could get to her.

"You have everything else under control, I assume?" Elijah asked Damon, who nodded. "Good."

Elijah picked up the moonstone and headed to the door.

"Elijah!" Rebecca called, and he turned around. "Thank you for coming when I called."

The Original nodded and smiled softly before turning to walk away.

When Damon was sure Elijah was gone, he knelt down by Rebecca's side and quickly began to unchain her. The task was made harder by the vervain running through his veins.

"Damon, your neck," she said softly.

She tried to reach up but groaned. Damon knew every movement must be more painful than anything Rebecca had ever felt. What was worse was that he was going to have to help get the pellets out of her.

Damon caressed her cheek and said, "You're gonna be okay."

He stood up and went to his little bar and grabbed a bottle of his best bourbon, and then made his way back to Rebecca.

"Here, drink. You're gonna need it."

As it was, Damon needed help himself, so he called the only person he knew would come.

Alaric Saltzman.  
\----------  
Ric was on his way to Jenna's when he got a call on his cell. He groaned when he realized it was Damon. He knew Damon would call only if there was trouble. He needed there not to be trouble. He had a date with Jenna – sort of, anyway. Jenna was cooking dinner for him, and he was staying the night.

"Yeah?" he answered anyway.

"How busy are you right now?"

"Heading to Jenna's for dinner, why?"

"Rebecca needs help, and I can't do it right now because I'm not at my best. Can you call and tell her you'll be running a little late?"

"How late?"

"Maybe thirty minutes?"

Ric sighed and wondered how exactly he had gotten into this mess. He'd come to this town wanting to kill vampires, and now he was friends with four of them, two of which he taught in his class.

"A'right, let me call her."

"Thanks, Ric," Damon said before hanging up.

With mixed feelings, Ric began to call Jenna. He didn't know why he even tried having a relationship anymore. It wasn't like he could ever tell Jenna the truth. She would flip out and think he was crazy. She'd probably call the closest loony bin available.

But he loved her and didn't want to lose her, so he finished dialing the number.  
\----------  
After Damon had finished talking to Ric, his phone rang. It was Bonnie calling. Damon didn't even know how she'd gotten his number, but he answered because for her to be calling him it had to be important.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Where's Rebecca? I can't get her on the phone."

"Her phone was stolen. We just spent the better part of an hour being tortured by werewolves."

"What?"

"Yeah. So what'd you find out?"

"The Martin's have been working with Elijah. Klaus has a girl named Greta working for him. She's Luka's sister. Klaus is trying to find a way to undo the curse without the doppelganger."

Damon listened, but he was watching Rebecca at the same time. He'd even been listening to Chelsea. She'd been asleep for about fifteen minutes. She'd been crying but had obviously fallen asleep – had cried herself to sleep. That was almost better, because she couldn't really come downstairs when he began to get the pellets out of Rebecca.

"Elijah promised the Martin's they would get Greta back if they helped him kill Klaus."

Rebecca groaned and Damon's eyes narrowed as she tried to sit up. What was she doing?

"And how do we kill Klaus?" she asked, her voice even weaker than before.

Damon relayed her message and tried to get Rebecca to lie back down fully. She was just making herself bleed more.

"After the sacrifice, Klaus will be vulnerable and weak."

Wait. After the sacrifice? Damon thought. Elena has to die.

For the curse to be broken, Elena would have to die. They had already known that, but Elijah had promised to keep her safe, hadn't he? That had been the deal she'd made. She would stay put and Elijah would keep her and her friends safe.

"So he planned on killing her all along," Damon said.

"Yeah. The sacrifice is part of Elijah's plan."

"Got it. Loud and clear."

Damon hung up and tossed his phone on the couch. Rebecca had finally lain back down and was now drinking bourbon straight from the bottle. Good. Maybe she'd drink herself unconscious and wouldn't feel when he was pulling the little pellets out of her.

"Damon, take that thing out of your neck. I'm . . . getting sick just looking at it."

Rebecca's speech was already beginning to slur, Damon was happy to hear. She shouldn't have been worrying about him, however, because she was way worse off than he was.


	31. Chapter Thirty

When Ric finally made it to the boarding house he went inside without knocking. He was sorry he had. There were four dead bodies – one on the couch, and three on the floor – and both Damon and Rebecca looked as if they had definitely seen better days.

"What happened to you guys?" he asked.

Damon's neck was full of holes and he was leaning over a barely conscious Rebecca, who had wounds in her stomach. Gunshot wounds?

"Werewolves," Damon seethed.

Ric walked closer and finally saw what was wrong with Rebecca.

"Buckshot?"

"Yeah."

Ric could see the muscle and bones that had been torn apart by the pellets having torn through Rebecca's body. He knew the only thing holding Damon together right now was the fact that Rebecca needed his help.

"Damon," Rebecca whispered. Blood was coming from her mouth. Ric knew the reason she wasn't healing was because the pellets were still lodged into her stomach. They must've punctured her organs, because she was spitting up blood.

Her face and lips were pale; bloodless.

"What do you need me to do, Damon?"

"I need you here for Chelsea," he said. "I can't go to her like this, and Becca can't do anything right now."

"Of course."

Damon gestured for him to go upstairs and Ric went without a fuss.

Rebecca's head lolled against the carpet. Damon hadn't moved her because she wouldn't have been able to stand being moved. As it was, she was barely conscious – blood loss, pain, and alcohol had sped along the process.

Her blood had soaked through the knees of his jeans. Getting the pellets out of her was causing more blood loss, but it was a necessary evil. She couldn't heal properly with them still inside her. It didn't help matters that he was weak from the vervain he'd been injected with and in pain from blood loss himself.

Finally, Rebecca fell completely unconscious and he was able to be quicker in his movements. He knew her brain was working to keep her from feeling any pain. That just happened to be what he needed at the moment.

Once all the little bits were gone, Damon closed his eyes and bent his head in a brief moment of relief. That part was finished, at least. Now Rebecca needed blood – a lot of it.

He went down to the basement and grabbed about five bags of blood – one for him, and four for Rebecca. Once upstairs, he sat beside Rebecca and cradled her head on his lap. She was still unconscious, obviously too weak to feed on her own. She couldn't even move.

The first spark of fear went through him when he realized she wasn't swallowing. Her hands twitched, he noticed, and he clung tighter to her.

"Becca, you have to drink," he whispered urgently.

As if in response to his voice, her mouth began to grimace as her face took on the look of a vampire. Her fangs punctured the bag he was holding to her mouth and she was eventually able to reach up and grasp the bag herself.

Damon was unable to hold her close enough as relief filled him. She would heal now, and she would be okay.  
\----------  
Once Rebecca woke up she grabbed at her stomach and sighed in relief when she realized her wounds were gone. She looked around and realized she had been moved to her bedroom. Damon had obviously moved her after she had healed.

She vaguely remembered seeing Ric earlier and that he'd been called to watch over Chelsea. Rebecca focused her hearing so that all the sounds would make their way to her. Chelsea was giggling and she knew Ric was still there. Rebecca could hear his heartbeat.

She stood up and found she was still weak and a little unsteady. She had to grab the bedpost to keep from falling back on the bed.

Damon appeared by her side in less than five seconds. His shirt was off and his neck was wet. Apparently he'd been washing off – he had come out of the bathroom.

"Hey, you're okay," he said.

"Yeah, I know. Got up when I shouldn't have."

She sat back down and leaned her head on Damon's shoulder when he sat beside her.

"How was Chelsea when Ric checked on her?"

"She was asleep until a few minutes ago."

"Good."

Damon lifted her head so he could look at her.

"Is that where you were going? To get Chelsea?"

"Yeah." She bit her lip. "Damon . . . I've made my decision regarding Chelsea."

He stiffened. "Yeah?"

"We can't keep her, Damon. If anything had happened to us tonight, what would've happened to her? No one knew we were in trouble, Damon, and she would've been here alone until someone thought to check on us or until Stefan had come home. It was a good thing Elijah came when he did."

Damon tensed even more. "About that. When did you have time to call him?"

"I pretended to be unconscious and Jules left me alone. I called him then."

Damon nodded. "And do you remember what Bonnie said about the sacrifice? And Elijah's plan."

"Elena has to die," Rebecca said softly. "I . . . I knew that already, Damon. I mean, I suspected it, anyway.

"You knew and you were okay with it?"

"No, of course not, Damon! But . . ."

Rebecca sighed. She didn't want to talk about this now. Damon had changed the subject only because he didn't want to talk about giving up Chelsea.

"But?" Damon prompted.

"I can't worry about one person, Damon."

Damon shook his head, obviously not understanding.

Rebecca bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood before answering with, "Damon . . . do you know why I let you get away with killing so much when we first got together?"

"Because you knew that my humanity was shut off."

"Well, yes, but that's not the only reason. You . . . I . . . I had to think of the bigger picture. I allowed you free reign, yet I was super hard on Stefan, even before he killed me. Did you ever wonder why? Because he did more damage than you did even on your worst days."

"What does that have to do with the sacrifice?"

"Elena has to die for the curse to be broken. Klaus is an Original, and we don't know how to kill an Original. If we don't let Elena die, Klaus will be stronger than us – all of us. We will die fighting an impossible-to-win battle. I'm hoping we can find another way, but I can't risk the whole world for one girl, Damon."

Rebecca didn't like the words that were coming out of her mouth, didn't like that she was willing to let Elena sacrifice herself. It was true that Rebecca would die for her friend if she had to, but while she was here on this earth she also had to fight to protect it. Sometimes that meant making the hard decisions and doing things that others couldn't.

She loved Elena, but one girl was not worth having an invincible vampire running around. If Klaus was as bad as everyone said he was, they really needed to find a way to stop him before everything happened.  
\----------  
"We need to talk," Stefan said, coming up behind Elena, who was pouring herself a glass of wine.

"What is it?"

"Damon learned that Elijah's planning for you to die in the sacrifice ritual."

Elena's heart picked up speed and she turned to face him.

"I know the deal I made, Stefan. Elijah's very careful with his words. He promised to protect my friends, he never said a word about me."

"You mean that . . . you knew that you weren't gonna survive this?"

"If it comes down to the people that I love getting killed or me . . . I know what my choice is gonna be."

Stefan shook his head, anger beginning to fill him.

"Elena, how . . . how could you stand out there earlier with me talking about making plans for our future when you don't even expect to have one?"

"I'm sorry, Stefan. I'm just trying to keep the people that I love safe. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"No. What you're doing is you're being a martyr," he almost growled. How could she have made that deal? She was only seventeen years old. She hadn't lived her life yet. Didn't she want a chance to live?

"How is that any different than when you say that you would die to keep me safe?"

"Because I've already lived!" Stefan said firmly. "A hundred and sixty-two years I have lived and you've barely begun. And now you wanna let yourself get killed? That's not heroic, Elena, it's tragic."  
\----------  
Back in Mystic Falls, Tyler had gone to the Grill. He was planning on leaving town, but he had a few things he needed to make right first.

One of which was that he needed to clear the air with Matt. He knew Matt thought there was something going on between him and Caroline, but there wasn't. Matt needed to know, so Tyler caught up with Matt right as his shift was ending.

"I've been going through a rough time," he said. "It's something I can't really talk about and Caroline's been helping me through it. She's been there for me more than anyone's been there for me in my entire life, and I kinda fell for her. I don't know how anyone wouldn't because she's pretty incredible, but she loves you. She needs you and, to be honest, she deserves someone like you."

Matt was an amazing guy. He wouldn't fool around on someone he cared about, and he'd always be there if someone needed him.

"So you be good to her, okay?"

"Yeah. Of course."

Tyler watched as relief filled his best friend's face and then he walked out of the Grill and toward the car Jules was in. He'd told her no more lies – that was the condition he'd made her agree to if she wanted him to come with her.

She had agreed.  
\----------  
Back at the lake house, Elena was reading from one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. Stefan had stormed off and was now out on the pier. She knew he needed time to comprehend what he had just learned about the sacrifice. She knew he didn't want her to die – she wasn't exactly happy about it, either – but she wouldn't let everyone else be killed because of her.

Stefan would come back to her when he was ready.

The journal she was reading started right after the vampires had been locked in the tomb. The townspeople thought the vampires had been killed in the church fire and that the horror had passed.

They'd been wrong!

Jonathan himself had thought they were safe from everything aside from the war. Elena had a hard time grasping the fact that she was reading a first-hand account of someone who had lived in the time of the Civil War.

The particular entry she was reading was about Jonathan learning about the new monsters – his word, not hers – that the others had created. Jonathan had been having a dinner party the night he'd found out about the new vampires, and one of his guests had been attacked and killed and then another followed shortly after.

'I knew I was about to die,' her ancestor had written. 'You cannot run from a vampire. I saw the vampire who killed me. I recognized him. It was Stefan Salvatore.'

Elena looked out toward the lake where she knew Stefan was. Stefan had killed two people and had bitten Jonathan Gilbert. She assumed he either hadn't been killed or he'd had his ring on when he had been attacked so that even if he had been killed he would've come back to life.

Elena sighed and then went back to reading.  
\----------  
Outside, Stefan was talking to Damon again. Damon was telling him that Rebecca had known all along about the deal Elena had made with Elijah, had known that Elena's survival had never been mentioned.

"I just got a call from Carol. She gave me some good news," Damon said, changing the subject. "Well, good for me anyway. Tyler Lockwood ran away from home. He left her a note."

Stefan heard Damon tinkering around with something on the other end.

"So now that the werewolf problem is out of the way, we can focus on –"

"Killing Elijah," Stefan said. "That's not gonna be easy. He's crafty."

"Well, I've got a crafty little dagger."

"He's an Original. We don't know what all that encompasses."

"Oh, trust me, Stefan. I'm gonna cross all my t's. I don't want any surprises."

"Wow, Damon. You're actually gonna be careful for once?"

"Yes, Stefan. I've become you. How tragic for both of us. Got a murder to plan. I have a busy day ahead of me."

"A'right. Be careful."

They both hung up and when Stefan closed his phone he looked back up to the house. Through the window he could see Elena reading one of the journals she'd found. He was still mad and knew they needed to talk more about what had happened, but he also knew she needed time with those journals.

It would be the only source of family history she would ever have.  
\----------  
"Are you mad at me," Rebecca asked. "About what I said?"

"About letting Elena die?" Damon asked. "No, I'm not mad. I'm confused."

Chelsea had just gone back to sleep, and Damon and Rebecca had walked Ric to the door. Rebecca was still a little dizzy on her feet, but she was better.

"Why're you confused?"

"Well, Elena's your friend, for one."

"Yes, she is, but she's also willing to die. I mean – I don't think I'm saying this right. What I'm trying to say is that I don't want her to die, but . . . if that's the only way to save everyone else . . ."

Elena's death would be the last resort for Rebecca. She wouldn't let it happen if she could help it, but she had to prepare herself for the worst.

"We can't have an invincible vampire running around. That's all I'm saying."

"We could always use the dagger," he said.

"But Elijah says that Klaus will be vulnerable only in the middle of the ritual, which means Elena would have to die anyway. Maybe he can't be killed until then."

Damon sighed and Rebecca could tell he was tired. He'd been tortured earlier, mentally and physically, and he hadn't been able to rest as she had.

"Damon, this is only if it comes down to the last moment," Rebecca said. "Not a second before."

Rebecca hoped Damon would understand. She didn't want to fight about this with Damon. Nothing was set in stone, and with Elijah around, maybe they could find a way to save Elena.  
\----------  
The next morning, Rebecca found herself out near where all the old families had lived in the 1800s. Jenna had called her and said she had a meeting with Elijah and he had requested Rebecca's presence if it was convenient. She had agreed to meet them – Damon hadn't said much, but reluctantly let her do what she wanted.

"The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence," Jenna said.

Rebecca, Jenna, and Elijah had been walking along the property line between the Fell estate and the old Gilbert estate.

"Ah, the Fells," Elijah said. "One of the Founding families."

There was a certain note of derision in Elijah's voice that caught Rebecca's attention.

"Why do you say it like that?" she asked.

"My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. There was a migration of town folk from the northeast. Um, Salem, to be precise."

"Massachusetts?" Jenna questioned. "As in the witch trials?"

Elijah nodded. "Which means the ever-lauded Founding families didn't actually found anything."

Rebecca suddenly wondered how old Elijah was. She knew he was an Original, but what did that entail? If he had been around in the 1600s that made him about a century-and-a-half older than Damon, but if he'd been around during Katherine's time he was about five-and-a-half centuries old – maybe even older.

"I bet it was the men who made it a big deal about being Founders back in 1860," Jenna said. "Men are territorial."

"Yes, they are," Elijah agreed. He turned to Rebecca then. "It has come to my attention that the Salvatore house is being rebuilt, and that you're helping."

Rebecca nodded after hesitating briefly. "Yes . . ."

"I'm pretty curious about the freed slaves' property owners," Elijah said.

"Why?" Rebecca blurted out and then blushed slightly. "I mean, why come to me about that? To the best of my knowledge, the slaves ran away."

"Some say the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history."

"I actually have the list of freed slaves in my car," Jenna said. "Just give me a minute and I'll be right back."

Once Jenna was out of hearing distance Elijah stepped closer to Rebecca. She had to force herself not to take a step back.

"You are looking better," he said. "Everything else went smoothly after I left last night?"

She nodded. "Thank you again."

"Things have not changed so much that you now deserve to die," Elijah said. "Besides, can you imagine Damon trying to make it without you?"

She couldn't, actually, and it scared half to death.  
\----------  
Elena jumped as Stefan came through the sliding back door. She'd been so consumed in reading her ancestor's journal that she hadn't been paying attention to anything else.

Stefan shrugged out of his jacket and threw it on the rocking chair on the other side of the room.

"Are you still mad?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," he scoffed. "I'm still mad."

"We have a difference of opinion, Stefan. We're not always gonna agree on everything."

"And you've agreed to sacrifice yourself to Klaus." Stefan gave her a sarcastic grin filled with malice. "To say we have a difference of opinion is the understatement of the century."

"You would know," Elena quipped.

Elena and Stefan stared each other down silently until Stefan shook his head as if he thought this conversation really wasn't worth the effort he was putting into it.

Eventually he nodded at the journal in her hands. "What does Jonathan Gilbert have to say?"

"A lot," Elena answered. "It's insane, the things he wrote in his journal." She handed the journal over to Stefan. "There's stuff he kept from the Founding families, stuff that nobody knows . . . Stuff that you've never told me."

Elena bit her lip and watched as Stefan bound the leather journal up with the string attached to it.

"I was . . . I was angry at the Founding families for what they did to Katherine. I wanted revenge. I didn't know about Jonathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that . . . that he would survive."

Stefan sat on the coffee table right in front of Elena. She stared at him for a few seconds. She could tell by the guarded expression on his face that he didn't know if she wanted him to keep going. She didn't really want him to, truth be told, but she needed to know these things.

"He described you as a monster," she prompted quietly.

"That's what I was. I want you to know the truth, but I want you to hear it from me."

Elena nodded and then asked a quick question. "Was Rebecca there for a lot of it or . . ."

"She was there for maybe two weeks after Damon and I turned. I believe she could've helped me had she been able to stay longer." With a deep breath Stefan began. "In the weeks after I turned, I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could . . ."  
\----------  
Mystic Falls, 1864

Stefan was in the Veritas house feeding off of a few girls he'd picked up in town. One girl was playing the piano and the three others were his dinner; one was already dead, and he was working on a second until Damon came in and ruined his fun.

"Company, brother?"

"Brought enough to share," Stefan said, grabbing the bite-free girl and shoving her in Damon's direction.

"Are you mad? Bringing them here when the entire town is hunting us."

"If you're worried about the Founding families, please don't be. They're all dead or are about to be."

Stefan went back to feeding from the girl he'd been bleeding dry, but Damon interrupted. He was compelling the girl Stefan had given him to leave and forget she'd been there.

"Come on, Damon. Don't be like this. I'm just having some fun."

"Staying alive is more fun, Stefan. We have to be more careful than this, more clever. Like Rebecca was teaching me to be."

"And where is she now, Damon?" Stefan mocked. "You woke up one morning and she was gone. She didn't care enough about you to stay."

Stefan didn't know how far he'd gone until pain shot through Damon's eyes. Damon glared icily back at him.

"I'm done here with you. I'm leaving town."

Damon shoved past him and almost made it to the door, but Stefan flashed toward him and blocked the way.

"Wait. You hate me. I know. I know – an eternity of misery and on and on. I know. But you don't have to leave town, Damon. I'll do better. I promise."

Stefan couldn't lose Damon; he was all Stefan had left. Stefan hadn't been able to feel anything but rage and hunger ever since he'd been turned, but now he felt something else. Fear of being alone for eternity.

"You will get us killed," Damon muttered. "I'd rather leave you to do that to yourself."

When Damon shoved by him this time Stefan wasn't able to go after him. His body was paralyzed by the fact that Damon had meant what he'd said.

He was leaving.  
\----------  
"I wasn't myself then. I was full of guilt," Stefan said to a stunned Elena. She'd been silent all through his explanation of one of his worst memories of his early vampire life. "What I did to my father, to my brother . . . I had to turn it off. It was the only way I could survive."

"It sounds like you were Damon."

"I was worse," Stefan said honestly.

At that point in time he had been worse than Damon had ever been.  
\----------  
Rebecca walked into the Grill at around noon. She'd promised to meet Damon there for lunch. What she hadn't promised was to bring Jenna or Elijah with her, but they had tagged along. Jenna had a lunch date with Alaric, so Rebecca knew why Jenna was there, but other than the fact that Elijah was interested in the old Salvatore property Rebecca had no clue why Elijah had come with her.

Damon and Ric were sitting together so Rebecca and Jenna went and grabbed a seat beside their respective boyfriend. Elijah chose to stand by the table on the grounds that he wouldn't be staying long.

Rebecca shrugged and then kissed Damon quickly on the lips. "Where's Chelsea?"

"Jeremy. I told him we'd pick her up after lunch."

"Good."

Rebecca hated passing Chelsea around like she was a community baby – and she had a solution for that – but sometimes there was no other choice. Rebecca knew she and Damon needed to have a serious talk about Chelsea. They really did need to have Robert take her with him when he left for California.

"So what did you guys talk about today?" Ric asked Jenna after receiving a kiss from her.

"Oh," Jenna gasped. "Sorry. Elijah, this is Ric, my . . . boyfriend?"

Rebecca laughed at the questioning look Jenna gave Ric and the small grin and nod she received back.

"My boyfriend," Jenna continued. "Ric, this is Elijah."

"Nice to meet you," Elijah said.

"Same."

Elijah nodded at Rebecca and she took that as her cue. "Elijah is interested in the old Salvatore house. Maybe you could talk to him about it sometime." Rebecca shrugged. "Maybe he could come over sometime for dinner or something."

"Tonight maybe?" Damon supplied. "I can cook. Everyone's invited."

Well, that was easy, Rebecca thought. Almost too easy.

Was Damon just putting on an act for the other two or did he have something else planned? He better not be planning to use the dagger; they didn't know anything about it except that it came from Diana, which meant it definitely wasn't trustworthy.

"I'm free," Jenna said. "Could be fun."

Ric agreed only because Jenna already had.

Rebecca looked at Elijah. "You in?"

He smiled. "It would be a pleasure, Miss Stone."

"Okay. Damon, you and I need to go shopping, so how about we leave Jenna and Ric to it and then we can go ahead and get Chelsea after?"

Damon agreed and they left the restaurant. They decided to just take Damon's car and they would pick Rebecca's up on the way back. Once on the road, Rebecca couldn't hold her thoughts in anymore.

"You planning on killing Elijah tonight?"

"Not yet. I promised I wouldn't use the dagger until I knew more. I'm gonna go talk to Katherine and see if she's heard of the thing."

"Yeah, because she's known for telling the truth."

"There's no need to be snarky about it," Damon said.

"Yeah, there is. Katherine cannot be trusted. She'll lie about anything you ask her, or she'll use it to her advantage."

"Yes, but we'll be able to gauge by the way she reacts whether or not the dagger works."

Rebecca felt she was going to lose this one, and Damon did have a point. They might get more information out of what Katherine did rather than what she said.  
\----------  
Before going to the tomb Damon stopped by the boardinghouse to pick up some blood for Katherine. He figured she'd be more cooperative if she wasn't starving.

Both Damon and Rebecca went into the tomb to search for Katherine. They found her in the very back of the tomb. She was seated on the ground and propped up against the stone wall. Her skin had turned gray and crusted. She had begun to desiccate. Her organs had already shut down from lack of blood.

"You know, that is a great look for her. Can't we just leave her that way?" Rebecca quipped.

"Becca . . ."

Damon unsealed the bottle of blood he had picked up from the house and placed it under Katherine's nose. The girl immediately began to sniff and her mouth opened slightly. He tipped the bottle up so the liquid would flow into Katherine's mouth. After a few swallows, the girl grabbed the bottle and was able to hold it up herself.

Katherine's color soon came back to her skin and she opened her eyes. She didn't seem angry or spiteful until she spotted Damon and Rebecca.

"Wow. That blood did the trick. You're almost pretty again."

"What is it that you want, Damon?"

Katherine slowly stood up but didn't move otherwise. The small amount of blood she'd had hadn't made much of a difference; it had only been enough to wake her up, really.

"Rebecca's Watcher is back in town. She told me this old wives' tale about how to kill an Original."

"And you wanna know if it's true," Katherine surmised. "If it was, I wouldn't tell you."

"Why not?" Rebecca asked. "If it was true, it would get Elijah out of your hair."

"I want Klaus dead, not Elijah," Katherine said. "He's compelled me to stay in here. If he dies, I'm stuck forever."

"Sucks for you."

Damon smirked. Katherine had basically just confirmed that there was, indeed, a way to kill an Original.

"Forget it, Damon. Killing Elijah would be a suicide mission. You can't do it."

"Can so."

"Can't."

"Even with a dagger and a little white oak ash?"

Whatever smugness that was usually in Katherine's face and eyes left as soon as the words registered. He had struck a nerve.

"No, Damon," she pleaded. "If you kill Elijah, then I'm stuck in here forever."

All that was missing from the girl was stuttering and trembling. Her voice, however, said it all.

"You're really scared," Rebecca said.

"Look, just get me out of here first, and then I'll help you," Katherine said to Rebecca. "I'll – I'll help you kill Elijah, or – or protect Elena. Whatever you want."

"I don't want Elijah dead," Rebecca said. "This is all Damon."

"We let you outta here and your butt is sippin' Klaus-free margaritas on some unknown island somewhere. No way."

"That's not true. I'll stay. Damon, please. Just – just don't do it!"

"Well, thank you," Damon said, ignoring her pleas. "You've told me everything I need to know."

"I've told you nothing."

"You have. You have indeed confirmed that it is possible to kill an Original, which I will do tonight."  
\----------  
Once Rebecca and Damon were outside the tomb Rebecca stopped walking.

"Why exactly are we planning on killing Elijah? He's helping keep us safe."

"He can't be trusted," Damon said. "Please don't be against me on this. I need you with me."

"I'm not okay with this, Damon." Rebecca's throat tightened. "I mean . . . he's kept his word so far. We may need him later. He's saved us more than once, and . . ."

"He's still a threat," Damon exclaimed.

"How exactly is he a threat?" Rebecca almost yelled. "I think using that dagger is more of a threat."

If Damon had gotten the dagger from anyone other than Diana and had gotten information on said dagger from someone other than Katherine, maybe she would feel differently.

"I just don't feel good about this, Damon. At all. I don't like where the dagger came from, I don't like who you went to to find out about it, and I definitely don't like that you're taking Katherine's word for it."

"You saw her. She was actually scared."

The fact that Damon was calmly trying to reassure her didn't really set well with Rebecca.

"Yes, because she thinks it will work, but what if it doesn't?" Her throat began to burn and she realized she wanted to rip into something, or cry, and she really wasn't sure which. "What if it doesn't work? What do you think he's gonna do? Just let you walk away? No, he'll go after you, me, and probably Chelsea. We should just leave him alone!"

Rebecca now realized how Elena must've felt when Katherine had gone after Jenna, when Elena had thought everyone she loved was in danger because she hadn't listened to her doppelganger.

"Damon, we've been in more danger in the past month than I've been in my whole life. If leaving Elijah alone no matter how much of a threat he is, is what it takes to keep us safe, I'm all for it.

"He's saved us, he saved Chelsea. I can't kill him. You shouldn't either."

By this time the persistence in Damon's face had softened. Rebecca knew it was because until now she hadn't really expressed her opinion on the Elijah thing. Sure, she'd been against the dagger thing from the start because it had come from Diana, but she'd never outright said she didn't want Elijah dead.

As soon as her eyes began to sting Rebecca knew her body had decided to cry rather than find something to tear apart. Damon brought her to his chest and held her as the tears fell.

"Is this really an actual problem? Because I see potential chaos if Elijah is allowed to live."

Rebecca shrugged slightly even though his arms were around her.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you if this fails." Rebecca sniffed a little. "Don't tell me if or when you're going to do this. I won't be able to act natural at all."

Damon pushed her away slightly but left his hands on her shoulders.

"You didn't answer my question. Is this gonna be a problem for us?"

"No." That wasn't the issue. "You believe you're doing the right thing and you're doing it to protect everyone. I just don't happen to agree with this method."

Because she felt she needed to reassure him now, she said, "Don't worry. I'm nowhere near as upset as I was when you tried to kill Caroline."

She was glad she'd been able to save Caroline; the blond had saved her life not long after Caroline had been turned.

Maybe she should remind Damon of that incident; maybe it would open his eyes.


	32. Chapter Thirty-One

At the lake house, Stefan was informing Elena on how and why he had become what was known as a Ripper. He'd made them some coffee and Elena was sipping hers gratefully.

Talking about his past wasn't something Stefan liked to do. It brought up too many memories he didn't want to think about. He had spiraled for weeks after turning. He had been completely driven by the desire for blood. Hunt, prey, kill. That was all he'd known.

No one had caught on to him because the Civil War had been going on at the time, and the thing about wartime was that there was always an endless anonymous blood supply.  
\----------  
Mystic Falls, 1864

Stefan was at one of the medic camps close to his home. Wounded soldiers were everywhere. He always choose the ones that were too tired or hurt to scream. He didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself. He had promised Damon he would do better; he needed to feed away from Veritas.

Maybe he could change Damon's mind about leaving.

Some of the men at the camp weren't wounded; some were just sick. Sometimes the sick ones had it worse. Stefan stayed away from the diseased and the nurses caring for them.

One night as Stefan was working on his second soldier he looked up to see a cloaked figure across the way from him. The figure seemed to be holding a cup up to one of the wounded soldiers' necks. That went on for a few seconds and then the cloaked person got up to walk away.

If the person in the cloak was collecting blood, he or she must be a fellow vampire. Stefan could've sworn all the vampires had been killed. Who was this new person?

Stefan began following and realized the cloaked figure was wearing a dress. He was following a girl then. He walked with his head down so no one would see the blood dripping from his mouth and down his chin.

He continued following the girl until they were pretty deep into the woods and then she stopped and twerked her head to the side as if she'd heard him behind her.

He quickly hid behind a tree, but still stood where he could see the cloaked woman. She must've become nervous because she began to backtrack.

Stefan raced behind her and was suddenly tackled to the ground by the girl – well, woman. He hadn't been able to see her face until just then. She had blond hair and brown eyes. Her hair was long and curly. Veins were protruding under her skin and her canines were elongated and sharp.

"What kind of an idiot are you?"

"I was just interested in you. All the other vampires are gone from this place. My brother and I are all that's left. Or we were."

The woman, still suspicious, said, "I heard this was a good place for vampires."

"Not anymore. They're dead. They were killed."

The woman let him up, though she still kept an eye on him.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore," he said.

"Alexia Branson. So, all the vampires have been killed?"

"Yes. The town people found out about us; most of them are dead too."

They began to walk together; Stefan was heading back toward Veritas. When they got there he offered her the chance to stay with him that night.

"The sun will be up soon," he said when he noticed she didn't have any Lapis Lazuli jewelry. "It's better than burning to death, right?"

Lexi smiled softly. "I'd say it isn't necessary to take me in, but with dawn coming, beggars can't be choosers." There was a pause and then, "Or should they be?"

Stefan had brought more girls home with him earlier. The three he'd chosen were now dead, two spread out on the floor, the other on the couch.

"I, um . . . I meant to dispose of those."

"You're a Ripper."

"A what?" Stefan had never heard the term before. He knew that ripping something could never be related to anything good.

"Well, there are good parts of being a vampire and there are bad parts. You're the bad parts."

Lexi gestured at the three dead women in the parlor. Stefan didn't know what the big deal was. He was a vampire; wasn't he supposed to eat people?

"Well . . . we're going to have to change that."  
\----------  
Present Day 

Stefan had suddenly fallen silent and Elena touched his arm. Stefan hadn't opened up to her this much since he'd attacked Rebecca.

"You okay?"

Stefan was pretty much a private person. She knew Stefan hated the "Ripper" part of himself, so it couldn't be easy for him to talk about it.

Talking about Lexi couldn't be a walk in the park either.

"Talking about this brings up things that I'd rather forget."

"Like Damon killing Lexi?"

"Yeah. She and Damon never got along. I should've kept him away from her."

Elena shook her head. "That wasn't your fault."

Damon had been different then. If he could do it over, Elena honestly thought that Damon wouldn't kill Lexi.  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, Rebecca was putting the final touches on a salad and monitoring Jenna, who was attempting to make an apple pie.

"So it seems like you and Alaric are doing okay," Rebecca said, to which Jenna smiled and blushed.

"I really like him. Ever since he went to Duke with Elena he's been more open and easygoing."

"I think he just needed the closure," Rebecca said.

"Hm. How about you and Damon?" Jenna asked. "You guys seem more than okay."

"Yeah, we usually are. He's pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Rebecca put her finished salad in the refrigerator and helped Jenna with the crust of her pie. She kept an ear out for Damon and Ric, who were in the parlor. If Ric came out he'd be close to the kitchen and if they happened to be talking about him it would embarrass both him and Jenna.  
\----------  
"You know this is a bad idea," Ric told Damon.

"There's no such thing as a bad idea, just poorly executed awesome ones."

Damon poured both of them a drink, but Ric shook his head. He was actually too worried to drink.

"I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house as Jenna."

"Jenna's perfectly safe," Damon said, and Ric could tell he was being sincere.

Damon knew Ric loved Jenna, and Ric was almost certain Damon wouldn't put Jenna in danger on purpose.

"Besides, it's just a fact finding mission. It's totally harmless."

"Just a fact finding mission?"

"Yeah."

Ric watched Damon down both his drink and the one he'd poured for Ric. Ric didn't believe Damon for a minute about this being a fact finding mission. Damon didn't usually care about facts; if he didn't like somebody, he wanted them dead. End of story.

"Listen. No sneak attacks, no surprise plans. Nothin' that's gonna put Jenna in harm's way, okay?"

"Scouts honor."

"You were never a Boy Scout, Damon," Ric said, realizing he may need to lower his standards. "Just nothing in front of Jenna, okay? Can you promise me that for real?"

Damon smiled – an actual smile, not a smirk. "That I can promise."

A few minutes later Rebecca came into the parlor along with Jenna.

"Damon, you need to pick something everyone will like to drink," Rebecca said. "And Jenna needs help setting the table."

Ric nodded and quickly went to his girlfriend's side. He smiled slightly at Rebecca as he passed her. She would've heard everything he and Damon had talked about; maybe she could talk some sense into Damon.  
\----------  
As soon as Jenna and Ric left Rebecca shut the door behind them.

"Fact-finding mission? You're lying. I could tell."

"You weren't even in here."

"No, but your voice is different when you're lying. Only someone who really knows you would know that."

"Hm." Damon sighed. "Well, if you can get Jenna out of there after dinner, that would be great. You guys can take a little longer than necessary to get the dessert, or something."

"You want me to leave you alone with Elijah? He's older than you, which means he's stronger and faster."

"I need the element of surprise. I won't be able to do that with you there."

Rebecca sighed. "A'right. But if you die, I'm getting Bonnie to bring you back so I can beat you back to death."

"Duly noted."

She quickly wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face onto his chest when he returned the embrace.

"You better be glad I love you. I so wouldn't be doing this if I didn't."  
\----------  
At the Gilbert Residence Bonnie and Jeremy were sitting in the living room eating Chinese food. Chelsea was there with them, for which Bonnie was grateful. At first she'd thought this had been an unplanned date. She had come over because Jeremy had promised to help her practice her magic, but when she'd walked in there had been food on the table and some candles had been lit as well.

It was sweet – really sweet – but she needed to make sure Elena was cool with her liking Jeremy. Elena was her best friend; she didn't want to make things weird. She and Jeremy liked each other, but she had been friends with Elena first.

Bonnie's phone vibrated in her jeans pocket and she brought it out.

"Rebecca," she said for Jeremy's benefit. "Hello?"

"Hey, uh, are you busy?"

"Just eating dinner. Why?"

"I hate asking for favors, but . . . Damon is planning something that may get us killed. I need to know Chelsea will be protected if that happens."

"What's he doing?"

"Tryin' to kill an Original."

Bonnie couldn't believe that. Damon had a way to kill an Original and he hadn't said anything? More than that, Rebecca hadn't said anything either.

"Well, I can do a spell and take Chelsea off the radar for a while, but it won't last long."

"Whatever you can do . . ."

"Becca . . . if Damon can kill Elijah, Elena won't have to die for us to kill Klaus. We'll already know how to kill him."

Jeremy's eyes widened and Bonnie almost smiled at the relief she saw there.

"I know. I just don't know if Damon can do it. The information came from Katherine and the weapon came from my old Watcher."

"We can always hope."  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, Elijah walked into the kitchen area just as Rebecca was taking the pie out of the oven. She'd heard him come in when Damon had opened the door for him.

"That smells delicious."

"Hopefully, it tastes the same," Rebecca quipped.

"I'm sure it does."

Rebecca left the pie to cool off on the stove. Elijah came a bit too close for comfort and she backed up a little.

"I suppose you heard my little speech?"

"I did."

Elijah had warned Damon that if he had less than honorable intentions that things would not end well.

"Well, that's good." Elijah had her backed against the wall now. "Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal . . . if you so much as make a move to cross me I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?"

Rebecca swallowed thickly. She did not like this Elijah. He was threatening her; he was threatening everyone here. For a second, she forgot who she was dealing with and she pushed at his chest. He'd made her angry and afraid.

"This is my house, Elijah! You can't just come in here and disrespect me, and you definitely can't threaten the other guests! I guess that whole 'No harm will come to you' thing doesn't matter anymore because you don't need anything from me?"

She went around him and hurried out so Elijah wouldn't see the tears that threatened to fall. She had just reprimanded him for his manners, but didn't she deserve his suspicion? She and Damon were planning to kill him; well, Damon was anyway. He had every right to question her motives.

As she was leaving the kitchen she ran into Damon, who caught her by the arms.

"Are you okay?"

She shrugged and shook her head at the same time.

"He threatened me!" she exclaimed even though she knew Damon would've heard.

"I did no such thing. I was merely stating a fact," Elijah said, following her out of the kitchen. "There really is no need for tears."

"There's no need for you to threaten everyone in this house," Rebecca said. She looked at Damon then. "Is everything ready?"

"The table's set, yes."

"Good. Let's go. I'm starving."

Damon led Rebecca and Elijah to the dining room. He let Elijah pass, but he grabbed Rebecca's arm before she could get by.

"Hey. Can we talk for a second?"

She nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Are you really okay?"

She nodded again. "He just surprised me, that's all. I mean, he saved my life one day and he threatened it the next."

"Can you make it through dinner?"

"Sure. I'm fine now."

Damon and Rebecca walked into the dining room and sat in their seats. Damon sat at one end of the table, Rebecca sat at the other. Elijah, Jenna, and Alaric were already seated.

Once everyone had the food they wanted Elijah began talking about witches from Salem and how they had been the actual founders of Mystic Falls

"The lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria," Elijah said. "It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned."

"Lovely dinner conversation," Rebecca muttered.

"Some say you could hear the screams for miles around as they were consumed by the fire."

"I, uh . . . wouldn't repeat this to the historical society," Jenna said.

"Is that why you were asking about the slaves' property owners?" Rebecca asked. "Earlier you wanted a list. Many of the slaves were burned to death in this town."

Elijah smiled pleasantly. "No, I just have a healthy historian's curiosity."

"Of course," Damon said.

Damon didn't know everything, but he did know that he would have to research the slaves' deaths now, and he would have to look specifically for where the slaves had died.

Many had been burned in his own house; others had been killed at the Lockwood's mansion. In order to find the right place, he would need to find out who had been caught and burned for witchcraft.  
\----------  
At the lake house Elena was continuing on with the reading of the journals. Jonathan had only gotten crazier and crazier. She supposed that was what happened when someone spent his or her life obsessed with vampires.

Stefan had needed some space after opening up about his past and how he'd met Lexi, so he'd gone outside. Elena had been reading ever since. She was on the second journal now and Jonathan was even more out there.

She'd come upon an entry about the Originals. Elijah had been in Mystic Falls, so it didn't really surprise her that Jonathan had known about them, but the information in the journals did give a jolt.

There were pages and pages of questions and theories about how the Originals had been made.

"Stefan!" she shouted, knowing he'd come to her, and he did. "He wrote about the Originals."

"You're kidding."

"No. Look."

She and Stefan sat there on the couch, both going through the pages until they came across a picture of a knife.

"What's that?" Elena asked, and began to read the page.

'The wood from one tree and one tree alone, an ancient white oak would bring death to an Original vampire . . . When the tree burned all hope was thought lost.'

Elena looked at Stefan. "He was trying to figure out how to kill an Original."

She continued reading.

'But the ash from the tree was saved and witches forged a dagger to which the ash could be bonded. The alchemic bond provides the necessary poison –'

"Elena," Stefan interrupted and stood up. He began to pace.

"I wonder if this is true," Elena said. "I mean, do you think this dagger actually exists?"

"I know it does because Damon has it. Diana brought it to him."

"Diana gave Damon the weapon that's supposed to kill Elijah? This one?"

Elena pointed at the drawing of the dagger, and Stefan nodded, so she continued reading.

'It must be brandished by humans alone, for it will bring death to all demons who wield it.'

Stefan pretty much snatched the journal out of her hand so he could read it for himself.

"Diana's trying to get Damon killed."

Stefan went for his phone just as Elena reached for hers. She knew Stefan would be trying to reach Damon; she needed to reach Rebecca. Rebecca was a vampire too. She wouldn't be able to use the dagger either.

"Why is your phone off?" Stefan said into his phone. "Call me."

Elena hadn't gotten an answer either. Something was wrong.

"What's going on, Stefan?"

"Damon's gonna try to kill Elijah tonight."  
\----------  
Back at the boardinghouse Damon was leading Elijah and Ric to the study for something stronger than wine. Jenna and Rebecca were going to take care of the dessert and call them when they were ready.

On the way to the study Ric received a phone call.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," he said, dismissing himself and walking away.

Once in the study Damon started in on Elijah. "So let me guess. In addition to the moonstone, the doppelganger, the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe . . . you need to find this witch burial ground."

Damon went to his mini-bar and poured himself and Elijah a drink.

"Because I feel as though we've grown so close, Damon, I'll tell you yes."

Damon turned to face Elijah, who had gone to one of the many bookshelves in the room.

"Tell me why it's so important."

"We're not that close," Elijah responded.

Damon offered him the glass, and Elijah stepped forward to reach it. Once Elijah grabbed it, he stepped back to the book case.

"It's quite a collection you have here. But there's a funny thing about books. Before they existed, people actually had memories."

Elijah's back was turned. Now was the perfect opportunity for Damon to literally stab him in the back, and he would have had Alaric not distracted them by coming through the door right then.

"Rebecca said dessert's ready," Alaric said.

"Ah." Elijah sipped his drink before handing the glass back to Damon. "Shouldn't keep Miss Stone waiting."

After Elijah left the room Damon hit Alaric on the shoulder harder than was necessary. Alaric pointed at the dagger and Damon shrugged. Alaric ended up writing on a piece of paper, and Damon followed him to the desk so he could read it.

'The dagger will kill you if you use it.'

Damon fumed, crumbling the piece of paper up and throwing it on the floor. What were they going to do now? They had no way to kill Elijah.

He wondered, as he began walking out of the doorway, if Katherine had known what would happen if he used the dagger. In fact, he wondered if Diana had known when she'd given the dagger to him that he would die if he used it.

His answer was yes to both.  
\----------  
"I hope this tastes okay," Jenna said. "I helped make it, but I'm used to just unwrapping stuff."

Damon walked in then, and Ric wasn't that far behind him. Rebecca had just set the apple pie down on the table. She looked up at the two guys, who were now sitting down.

Elijah had come in first. She'd been surprised that Damon hadn't killed him. That had been the plan. Damon was supposed to have done it sometime when he wasn't around her or Jenna.

"Jenna, we're missing plates," Rebecca said softly. "Maybe milk, too. Or ice cream. We have ice cream."

"I'd love ice cream," Ric said.

"I'll go get it," Jenna said.

Once Jenna was out of earshot Rebecca looked at Elijah. He seemed to be content. He obviously didn't suspect anything. Maybe the night would end without a problem.

Rebecca started to go towards the kitchen to help Jenna, but Damon stopped her by saying, "What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how you intend on killing Klaus."

To be fair, that was a very good question. How was Klaus going to be killed?

"There are a few things we should probably get clear right now," Elijah said. "I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena."

Ric sighed and stood up. "I'm gonna go see if Jenna needs help in the kitchen."

Elijah continued speaking. "I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you. You'll never see her again."

Rebecca tensed even as she tried to remain calm.

"You can't do that," she said. "I won't let you."

Ric, who hadn't moved beyond Elijah's chair, suddenly had the dagger in his hand and was shoving it through the thin lining of the chair and into Elijah's back. His aim must've been true, because Elijah convulsed and let out a small shout as his skin began to darken into a dull gray.

Rebecca didn't react other than to cover her mouth to keep from crying out. She noticed that Damon had jumped away from the table. He must not have known what Ric had been planning.

After Elijah had stopped moving and after making sure he was really dead, Ric pulled the dagger out of Elijah's back and placed it on the table in the place where Damon had been sitting.

"Now get rid of him before Jenna comes back with the plates and ice cream."

"A'right," Damon said.

Rebecca took a deep breath and finally found her voice. "I'll, um . . . head her off, let her know Elijah had to go. Damon, put him in the cellar for now."  
\----------  
"Elena, we need to talk about this," Stefan said.

"What good is talking if you and Damon are just gonna lie to me? If you don't like my decisions, that's fine. There's nothing I can do about that. But if you ever go behind my back again, I'll –"

"You're gonna what? Hm? What're you gonna do, Elena?"

"It's my life!"

"Yeah, exactly. It's your life, and I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure you live it."

Stefan knew Elena wasn't mad only because of him and Damon doing something without her knowledge of it. She was mad because had they not found out about the dagger Damon would've killed himself, and he would've done it protecting Elena.

"This trip through the past," Elena began, "you being honest . . . was there any truth to that or were you just distracting me?"

"I was telling you about a time when I thought that everything was lost, when I had given up. Because that is exactly what you're doing right now."

"That is not –"

"Yes, it is. Even if you don't want to admit it!" Stefan yelled. "You are giving up. Lexi wouldn't let me give up. I'm not gonna let you."

Lexi had helped him more than anyone ever had in his life. She'd helped him feel again.  
\----------  
Mystic Falls, 1864

"All of these men are dead or dying. What does that make you feel?" Lexi asked.

"Nothing. I feel nothing," Stefan admitted. Though, if he were being completely honest with himself, he did feel uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

Lexi had brought him to another medic camp not only because they needed to feed again, but also because she wanted to show him something.

"Because you shut off the part of you that was human," she said. "The part that lets you feel."

"Is that not the point?"

"Well, there is a better way. You simply have to want it."

"Is it better?"

"Not at first. You can't choose what you feel. You have to let it all back in. The pain, the look in their eyes when you took their life, the cries of their loved ones."

"Why would I wanna do that?"

That sounded horrible. No one would willingly do that, willingly let themselves feel that much guilt. That was stupid.

"Because once you can hurt," Lexi said, "you can love."

She let that settle and then continued. "Love, Stefan. That's the point. Everything is intensified when you're a vampire. When we hurt, we really hurt. But when we love . . ."  
\----------  
Present Day

"Lexi showed me that there was another way," Stefan said to a teary-eyed Elena. "And from that day forward, I started fighting for it. For my own survival. That's all I want you to do. I just want you to fight for it."

Stefan stepped forward and cupped Elena's cheek before moving on to caress her hair. He knew Elena Gilbert wouldn't give up; it wasn't in her nature, but maybe she needed a little push in the right direction.

Stefan kissed her forehead and looked her in the eyes. This girl had been through so much in the past year from losing her parents to finding out about vampires. She was still standing; she was a fighter.

He needed her to fight now.  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse Damon and Alaric were hiding Elijah's body down in the cellar. Damon was very familiar with the room. He'd been locked in there to starve at one point, and Stefan had been locked in when he'd turned Ripper not that long ago. He'd even had to lock Liz in there one time. The place had held many prisoners; now it was a hiding place.

"You said there wasn't gonna be any violence," Ric said.

"Says the guy that did all the killing."

"Hey," Ric said and grabbed Damon's arm. "I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house. Now, you can't lie to me like that."

Damon shrugged and began to turn away, to walk out the door.

"Hey!" Ric grabbed him again. "I am your friend, Damon. And you don't have any friends. So no more lying."

Damon nodded then. He knew he maybe – maybe – should have been more careful that night, but he hadn't really broken any promises, not really. He'd promised he wouldn't do anything in front of Jenna and he hadn't. Even if his plan had worked, it wouldn't have been in front of Jenna.

"I should call Stefan," Damon said. "Let him know what happened."

Ric let him go and said, "I should go check on Jenna. Rebecca's gonna need tending to as well. As far as she was concerned, Elijah was her friend."  
\----------  
Upstairs, in Rebecca's room, she was on the phone with Stefan. She was telling him that Elijah had been dealt with.

"I still don't understand why a witch would spell a weapon that would kill the vampire using it," Rebecca said.

When she'd called to tell Stefan that he and Elena could relax for a little while she'd found out that Stefan had called Ric earlier to let Damon know that he couldn't use the weapon. If it hadn't been for that, Damon would be dead right then.

"Originals believed in truth and honor. It was forbidden for a vampire to kill another vampire. So the dagger would take both lives. And as long as the dagger stays in place . . . the Original is, for all intents and purposes, dead."

Rebecca's breath caught in her throat. What had Stefan just said?

Rebecca hung up without another word and began to speed downstairs. Damon met her at the bottom and caught her before she could get by.

"Whoa! Where's the fire?"

"Are Ric and Jenna still here?" she asked.

"They just left. Why?"

She could tell he was concerned now. She didn't get riled up over just anything, but she couldn't help but be worried.

"Elijah!"

She pulled herself from Damon's arms and rushed towards the cellar. She didn't know what she'd been expecting to find, but an empty room wasn't it.

"Damon!"

He was right behind her, so she turned and grabbed onto him.

"We have to get to Elena, now."


	33. Chapter Thirty-Two

Rebecca and Damon arrived at the Gilbert lake house about an hour before Elijah did. Rebecca assumed that meant that Elijah had to have gone to the Martin's to have them track Elena, or Elijah had had to feed to gain his strength back after having died, after having been killed.

Rebecca's phone had been ringing off the hook. Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, Jeremy. She really didn't want to answer because she knew this Elijah thing was probably more important, but Jeremy had Chelsea at the moment, and if something was wrong she needed to know.

"Yeah?" she answered. "What's up?"

"Jonas Martin attacked Bonnie," Jeremy said.

"What?"

Rebecca looked at Damon and then at Stefan, the second of whom let Elena know what had been said.

"Is she okay?"

"She's shaken up. She was here, practicing her magic and –"

"Wait," Rebecca interrupted. "Is Chelsea okay?"

"She is asleep. Anyway, Jonas just slammed through the door and grabbed Bonnie and started chanting –"

Suddenly Bonnie's voice took over. "Becca, he took my powers!"

Rebecca's blood froze and her breath caught in her throat. If Bonnie no longer had her powers, that meant Bonnie was as unprotected as everyone else now.

"But you're okay, right? He didn't hurt you?"

"No, he – he said it was for my own good. He was mad about what we did to Luka, about what we found out. I offered to help him and that's when he took them."

"We will help you get them back. Okay?" Rebecca promised. "But right now we have an angry Original outside, and we need to deal with him."

She heard Bonnie sigh. It was almost a sob, actually.

"Be safe, Bonnie."

Then she hung up. She was glad she had, because at that moment the door was busted open. Elijah had thrown rocks at the door and they had hit so hard that the door had splintered apart.

Elena was telling them to leave now because she needed to talk to Elijah alone. None of them were okay with that. It was true that Elena had the dagger hidden on her person, but Rebecca didn't know if the girl had it in her to kill Elijah. Therefore, Elena would not be left alone.

"Guys, it's okay. He can't come in the house," Elena said.

"You know, I might not be able to enter this house," Elijah said, "but I am a very patient man. I'll wait you out."

Rebecca looked at Elena. Each girl nodded at the other, and Rebecca took Elena's hand. She let Elena lead her to the front door, but neither stepped outside. Rebecca wouldn't have given her presence away had she not been on the phone when Elijah had arrived, but he'd already heard her voice. There was no use in hiding now.

Elena started by saying, "They shouldn't have done what they did."

Rebecca followed Elena's statement with her own. "Elena knew nothing about it, and I told Damon not to do it. I never wanted any harm to come to you, and I'm sorry."

"But harm did come to me," Elijah answered swiftly. "The deal is off."

"I'm renegotiating," Elena said.

"You have nothing left to negotiate with."

Elijah climbed up to the porch and stood to face them. Rebecca noticed that Elijah had changed clothes. His shirt had neither a hole in it nor blood on it.

Elena suddenly pulled a kitchen knife from underneath the sleeve of her sweater. Rebecca assumed Elena had put it there while she'd been on the phone because she'd never noticed the brunette go to the kitchen.

"I'd like to see you lure Klaus to Mystic Falls after the doppelganger bleeds to death," Elena said, ice and steel in her voice.

"Stefan won't let you die," Elijah said.

"No, he won't. He'll feed me his blood to heal me and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did. So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before. Promise me that you won't harm anyone that I love even if they've harmed you."

Rebecca felt a modicum of hope fill her. If Elijah said yes to Elena's deal, then he wouldn't have to be harmed again, and everyone could just get on with his or her own life.

"I'm sorry, Elena," Elijah said, and Rebecca's heart felt a small crack forming. "I'm gonna have to call your bluff."

It took only a few seconds for Elena to force the blade into herself. It took just as much time for Rebecca to react. She caught Elena before the girl could hit the ground.

Rebecca noticed that Elijah seemed shocked, and he'd reached the doorway now only to be stuck outside. Elena was not dead. The barrier had not yet been broken.

Elena pulled the knife from her abdomen and blood gushed out, staining her shirt.

"Elena!" Rebecca shouted and moved the girl's hands away from her body so she could cover the wound herself.

The smell of blood reached Rebecca's nose and she had to fight off her vampire nature just so she wouldn't bite the girl.

"Yes," Elijah said. "Yes, you can have your deal. Let me heal you."

"Give me your word," Elena screamed.

"I give you my word," Elijah said, and Rebecca noticed that he'd barely even hesitated.

Elena got up from the floor and stepped outside. She was walking better than she should have been, considering she'd been stabbed in the stomach. And why hadn't she just stayed put? Rebecca would've healed her had she been given a chance.

A pain-filled grunt came from outside, and it hadn't come from Elena. Had she . . . Had Elena used the dagger on Elijah even after he'd agreed to her terms?

"Elijah!" Rebecca called out, even as he was turning gray. She'd watched this man die twice that night. This time she really hadn't expected it.

Both Elena and Elijah fell to the ground. Stefan ran past Rebecca and hurried to heal Elena. Rebecca vaguely remembered that Stefan had wanted to become a doctor at one point. He would've been able to tell Elena exactly how to stab herself so she wouldn't hit an organ.

Damon stepped forward as well, but only far enough to reach Rebecca.

"Little tip," Damon said. "Don't pull the dagger out."

Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"Was that really necessary? He'd agreed to your deal and now we don't have the dagger for when Klaus shows up."

She stepped outside onto the porch, and bent down beside Elijah. She touched his shirt near the dagger, where his heart was, where it should've been beating – slower than normal, but beating nonetheless – and just happened to notice a lump in his jacket pocket. She reached in gently and pulled out the moonstone.

"Guys . . ."

Damon, Stefan, and Elena, who was all healed up now, looked at her.

"Hm," Damon said. "Our little moonstone bar of soap."

"Soap?" Rebecca asked, knowing he was planning on putting it in the soap bowl in their bathroom. "That's a terrible idea."

"So that's it?" Elena asked. "I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, he stays dead?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay then," Elena said. "You know, you guys want me to fight, fine. I'll fight. But if we're gonna do this you can't keep anything from me anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it my way."

"Nope," Rebecca said automatically. "You'll get everyone killed."

"Becca . . ."

"No," she said firmly. "I'll work with you, but if you do something stupid, I'm not going along with it. I don't care what Damon and Stefan do. I mean, I shouldn't have gone along with killing Elijah in the first place!"

Rebecca stood up and tossed the moonstone to Damon and said, "I'm going home. I'm gonna go get the car and go pick up Chelsea."

Damon watched as Rebecca took off. He wanted to follow her, but he knew she needed space. She had liked Elijah for whatever reason and had had to watch him die. It couldn't have been easy.

"Is she okay?" Elena asked.

"She'll be fine. I think she just needs time," Damon said. "Anyway, we should definitely get going."  
\----------  
Stefan's and Elena's vacation was definitely over. Once Elena and Stefan had packed all of their things, they put it in the car. They had a little trouble getting Elijah in the trunk, but they eventually got him in there.

Damon decided to ride with Elena and Stefan to give Rebecca more time to herself, but once he got back to the boardinghouse he raced inside, hoping to find Rebecca back with Chelsea. No one was in the living room, but he could hear a shower running upstairs. He made his way to his room, wanting to make things right with Rebecca. She'd voiced her opinion on the subject of Elijah, of course, but he hadn't known just how upset she would be over his death.

He reached his room, where the noise was coming from.

"Becca? I thought you were goin' to get Chelsea," he said as he stepped inside.

The water stopped running as Damon reached the shower. The person standing there was definitely not Rebecca. This person had long brown hair, and her doppelganger was outside.

"Katherine."

The woman turned around and smiled. "Hello, Damon. Hey, do you have a robe?"

If Damon was being honest, he didn't know where to look. Katherine was naked and there was no denying she was beautiful, but that wasn't the reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Katherine was a manipulative little thing and she might kill him if he looked away.

"How did you get out?"

"I knew that if I begged you not to kill Elijah, that that's exactly what you'd do," Katherine admitted. "Little known fact? Originals can compel vampires, but as soon as they die the compulsion wears off."

"And you knew."

Damon realized then that he should've listened to Rebecca. Yes, Elijah had been a threat, but now they had an even bigger one in Katherine. He so owed Rebecca an apology.

"And I'm still here. I didn't run. I meant what I said, Damon. I'm going to help you. So . . . how 'bout that robe?"

It was at that moment that Damon heard a car door slam outside. He didn't even have to focus his hearing to notice Rebecca's heartbeat; even as a vampire hers was unique. The only reason he hadn't been able to tell who'd been in the shower when he'd gotten there was because of the water running and blocking out everything else.

"You need to leave," Damon said. "Get some clothes and leave."

Neither Rebecca nor Elena would appreciate Katherine being there. Knowing Katherine wouldn't listen to him, Damon decided the best course of action would be to at least warn the others.

He caught Rebecca downstairs holding Chelsea, who was halfway asleep. He grabbed onto Rebecca's arm and steered her back towards the door.

"Damon, what –"

"We have a problem," he said. "Walk with me."

He led her out to Stefan's car, where Stefan and Elena were talking. They hadn't removed their bags from the car, nor had they taken Elijah out of the trunk.

"Guys," Damon interrupted. "Katherine's upstairs."

"What? What is she doing here?" Elena asked.

"How is she here?" Rebecca asked.

Damon noticed that Stefan and Elena looked more upset than Rebecca did, though Rebecca had tensed.

"When we killed Elijah it broke the compulsion and freed her from the tomb."

An almost smug smile formed on Rebecca's lips. She had told them that they shouldn't have killed Elijah.

"How's that possible?" Stefan asked.

"He's an Original," Katherine said, appearing suddenly. At least she was dressed this time. "They have all sorts of special skills."

"I don't want you here," Elena said and turned to Stefan. "Get her out of here."

"You need me, Elena. You all do, we all want the same thing," Katherine said.

"And what's that?" Rebecca asked, switching Chelsea to the arm that was farthest away from Katherine.

"Klaus dead," Katherine answered. "Yet here you all are running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"I don't need your help and I don't want it."

"And that's incredibly stupid of you," Katherine said. "Do you know where Klaus is? When he's coming? What he looks like?"

"If you know something, say it or leave," Damon demanded.

"Fine. Then I'll just go to the Grill and pick up some very early breakfast. Maybe Aunt Jenna's free for a bite."

Rebecca growled low in her throat. "We're done with your threats, Katherine. No one here cares whether you live or die now. If you cause any problems now, I can and will kill you."

"And yet . . ." Katherine said.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. With a look between Stefan and Elena, Damon followed Rebecca and Chelsea. Neither vampire said anything until they reached their room.

"Damon, I'm with Elena. Katherine needs to leave. She's only going to cause more problems."

Rebecca placed Chelsea on the bed, where the girl automatically rolled over and began crawling around. Damon sat on the bed as well to ensure that Chelsea didn't fall off.

Rebecca quickly began filling an overnight bag with clothes for her and Chelsea.

"Where're you going?"

"I don't know. To my dad's or Bonnie's. Somewhere Katherine can't get in."

"Well, don't go to Bonnie's. I can't get in there."

Rebecca paused in her packing and smiled slightly. She went to the bed and gave Damon a lingering kiss on the lips. She wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her down until she was sitting on his lap.

"You seem to keep forgetting that I would follow you anywhere as long as you wanted me there," Damon said.

"I want you. No matter where I am, I always want you."

"Good. I guess we're going to your dad's then."

Rebecca nodded. "We can come back in the morning, but I'm not sleeping under the same roof as Katherine."  
\----------  
The next morning found Elena being picked up and taken to school by Stefan. Elena hadn't stayed at the boardinghouse the night before either, but Stefan had. Someone had needed to keep an eye on Katherine.

"Why is she still here?" Elena asked. "She was free."

Stefan had wondered that himself and had come to the conclusion that Katherine must have been telling the truth the night before.

"She wants what we want. Klaus dead. Maybe she sees us as her only chance."

"Or maybe she's trying to lure you and Damon back into her web," Elena countered. "I want her gone."

"Yeah. So do I. But you're right. She stayed. Shouldn't we at least try to figure out why?"

"How? All she does is lie."

Elena and Stefan made their way through the student parking lot and towards the front doors of the school.

"Look, I hate it as much as you do, but she does make a point. We don't know anything about Klaus. She does."

"Right. But that doesn't mean that I want her shacking up with you."

Stefan stopped walking and turned Elena to face him. He didn't like the insecurity in her voice.

"Maybe we should stay at your place tonight. Maybe Damon and Rebecca had the right idea when they went to Robert's to stay."

"Mm. I can't. I told Bonnie and Caroline that they could come over. Bonnie's freaked because she lost her powers, and Caroline's having Matt drama again. It's kind of a girl's night."

Elena scrunched up her nose and said, "Maybe Katherine can join us."

Stefan kissed her forehead, enjoying the sarcasm.

"Come on," he said. "Or we're gonna be late."  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, Damon was trying to find a way to dispose of Elijah's body. They needed to find a way for Elijah to stay dead even if they took the dagger out. At the moment, he was using a flame thrower, but it wasn't doing any damage at all to Elijah's body. It was as if a shield was around him, because even Elijah's clothes weren't burning.

"Ooh, burning flesh," Katherine said as she came into the cellar room. "If you're trying to get the dagger back, you're wasting your time. He's indestructible."

"No kidding," Damon said and turned to her. "How do you know so much about Original vampires?"

"Spent five hundred years running from one."

"So when I told you my plan to kill Elijah . . . why didn't you warn me that I'd die if I used the dagger on him?"

"Oh, there's so many rules. It's all very confusing."

Damon could tell she was lying, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it.

"Did you know I would die?"

"Did Elijah tell you his plan?" Katherine asked. "Did he have a dagger to kill Klaus with?"

"Why're you still here?" Damon asked.

Despite the fact that Damon had been certain that Katherine would run away as soon as she were able, she hadn't. It couldn't just be because she wanted to help them. There had to be something in it for her.

"Because you haven't forcibly removed me."

Damon held the nozzle of the flame thrower towards her, but she basically only rolled her eyes at it.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would," he said and moved closer. He felt a small jolt of pleasure when Katherine's eyes showed the beginnings of her fear.

"Damon, be smart. I want Klaus dead just as much as you do. More. If I wasn't being honest about helping, I'd be long gone by now. Okay?"

Damon glared at her as her words sunk it.

"You can hate me, but we want the same thing. And you know I always get what I want."

Damon lowered the flame thrower, and Katherine went past him, touching his chest on the way to the door. Once there, Katherine turned back around.

"I wanted out of the tomb. Didn't matter who paid the price. Of course I knew that you'd die."

With that, she walked away.  
\----------  
At the school, Stefan was filling Bonnie and Jeremy in on the Katherine situation. Nobody had informed them that she was no longer in the tomb.

"We're dealing with it. Just be extra careful," he said. "She's gotten a little too good at impersonating Elena."

Stefan had found the two at Bonnie's locker. Bonnie was putting a few books in her bag.

"With Katherine still around we've gotta find a way to get your powers back," Jeremy said.

Bonnie nodded, but she didn't seem to have any clue about how to go about doing that.

"Look, I want to try to get the Martin's on our side," Stefan said. "I want to figure out a way for all of us to work together now that Elijah's out of the picture."

"That's impossible. They hate us."

"It's either win them over or somebody's gonna end up dead. You think you can at least convince them to have a civil conversation?"

"I'll try," Bonnie reluctantly replied.

"Thanks. Keep me posted."

"Yeah, okay. I gotta get to class."

To be completely honest, Stefan had to get to class too, if only to keep an eye on Elena.

"See you guys later," he told them, and went off to find his girlfriend.

He met up with Elena in Alaric's classroom. They seemed to be discussing Jenna. Apparently the fact that he'd almost been exposed at the dinner Damon had held just to kill Elijah had opened Alaric up to wanting Jenna to know the truth about him.

"You think we should tell her the truth?" Elena asked.

"I'm saying I can't be with her and not tell her. It's not fair to her, and it's not the kind of relationship I want."

"Not to mention it's becoming more dangerous for her not to know. I just thought that we'd hold off at least until we've dealt with Klaus. You know, and even then . . . how do we tell someone what we know? How does someone hear that?"

Alaric, who had been pacing, stopped in front of Elena.

"Look, I'm sorry to put this on you. You know, but I feel that it's your decision to make, and whatever you decide to do I'll respect it. I want to be honest with her, but until then Jenna and I are done."

Stefan understood where Ric was coming from. When he'd first gotten with Elena he'd done nothing but lie. She'd eventually caught on and he'd had to be honest.

The best thing for Ric to do was tell the truth or stay away from Jenna. He was glad the man had come to Elena before acting on his feelings.  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, Damon was going through the Gilbert journals that Elena had found and brought back from her lake house. Katherine was being annoying and he was trying to ignore her.

"How am I supposed to help you when you won't tell me what you're up to?" she asked.

"Can you tell me where a bunch of witches were massacred in this town a couple centuries ago?"

"No."

"Then you can't help."

Katherine reached for one of the journals and Damon slapped her hand away as if she were a child reaching for something she wasn't supposed to have. She slapped him back and then their arms were wrestling with each other's. Damon fought to pin her down on the nearest flat surface, which ended up being a table, and wrapped a hand around her throat.

"If it's any consolation, I'm glad that you're not dead," she said, and reached her hand up to stroke his cheek.

He pulled away from her and she grinned as she got to her feet.

"Emily Bennett told me about the massacre," she admitted. "It was a big deal in witch folklore. When a witch dies violently, they release a mystical energy marking the place of their death with power."

"Elijah wanted to know the site of the massacre."

"What was he gonna do when he found it?"

"I don't know."

At that moment Stefan came through the front door. Damon knew that Stefan had been trying to set up a meeting with the Martin's after school. Stefan wasn't dead and he didn't appear hurt. That could only be a good thing.

"Why isn't she gone?" Stefan asked, looking at Katherine, "or dead yet?"

"For the last time, I'm here to help."

"Hm. So . . . what did Papa Witch and Baby Witch have to say?"

"Elijah had no weapon to kill Klaus with, but he believed that if a witch could channel enough power, they wouldn't need one."

"Like the power you get from a spot marked with a hundred dead witches?" Damon asked.

"We just need to find it."  
\----------  
Rebecca was at Elena's house, having been invited over for a girls' thing. Chelsea was with her, mostly because she hadn't wanted to leave her with Robert, but also because Chelsea loved the girls. Caroline was her favorite, but she loved Bonnie and Elena too.

"So . . . Chinese or pizza?" Caroline asked.

Everyone agreed on pizza and Bonnie ordered it.

"Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?" Elena asked.

"I don't know what to believe," Bonnie said. "I think he's at a loss. He doesn't know who to trust, but he doesn't wanna trust us."

Rebecca hadn't been at the Grill when Bonnie had met with the Martin's, but Bonnie had described what had happened well enough to know that Jonas hadn't been very receptive to their offer of help. The only reason Jonas had agreed to meet was because Luka had asked.

"Well, what're we gonna do about this movie situation? What about The Notebook?" Caroline asked and the others groaned.

"How many times have you seen that movie?"

"That is not the point!"

Jenna walked into the kitchen then. She looked . . . . not happy.

"Hey," Rebecca said. "What's up?"

"Ric broke up with me."

"What?"

"Yup."

Jenna took the last available seat at the table and slumped onto it.

"Well, we're here if you wanna talk," Elena offered.

"Yeah, because we're all winners when it comes to successful relationships," Caroline quipped.

"I am, at least," Rebecca teased.

"I feel Ric is hiding something from me." Jenna sighed. "Sometimes he evades."

Caroline scrunched up her nose, as if she agreed with Alaric's methods.

"Not to play devil's advocate, but maybe there's a good reason why he's not telling you. Maybe he just feels like he's protecting you. Sometimes the truth is hard and not pretty."

"That's not his call to make," Jenna argued. "I deserve the truth."

The pizza finally arrived and they all ate their fill. Rebecca even let Chelsea have a small piece. Chelsea liked the cheese and the sauce, but she wasn't crazy about the crust.

After eating, Caroline decided that instead of watching a movie they should go to the Grill. There was going to be a live band that night and it would be fun.

Everyone agreed aside from Rebecca. She had Chelsea with her; plus she really wanted to see Damon.  
\----------  
Damon and Katherine were reading when Rebecca walked in. Damon was on the couch and Katherine was seated comfortably on a chair. Rebecca wasn't planning on staying long, so she'd dropped Chelsea off with Robert. He could watch her for an hour – two, at most.

"I'm bored," Katherine said and got up so she could read over Damon's shoulder.

'Emily Bennett was taken by the Council today. They kidnapped her from her home and took her to the same location her ancestors were burned a hundred years ago.'

"So Emily died on the site of the massacre, too. Does it say where?"

"Nope." Damon turned to Rebecca then. "Hey, thought you were with the others."

"They wanted to go out. I didn't."

Rebecca plopped onto the couch close to Damon.

"Haven't found anything useful?"

"Mm-mm. I'd say use Diana, but she's tried to get both of us killed so . . . no."

"I'm hungry," Katherine said.

"You're the unwanted houseguest," Damon said, causing Rebecca to grin. "Go feed yourself."

Katherine scoffed and walked away. Rebecca assumed she was heading to the basement.

Rebecca quickly kissed Damon's cheek. "I missed you this morning. I'm not used to waking up without you."

"I know. I didn't like leaving you, but the quicker we get this done, the quicker Katherine can leave."

"Well, plus side of things . . ."

Damon kissed her this time, properly, on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss by any means, and it was chaste – no promise of more to come.

There were footsteps on the stairs. Rebecca recognized the tread as Stefan's. She pulled away to see the other Salvatore brother holding a few journals – how many were there altogether anyway?

"There's nothing in any of these," Stefan said. "Find anything?"

"Nope," Damon said, but he nodded and gestured for Stefan to come over. He handed the journal to Stefan so he could read.

"That's too bad." Stefan looked at Rebecca. "Hey."

"Hey yourself. I thought I was gonna have to shout for attention."

"Sorry. Distracted. Where's –"

"Damon!"

That was Katherine. She sounded alarmed – genuinely alarmed. The three vampires in the living room rushed down to the basement and found Katherine there, a stake in her stomach – near her chest but not the heart. She was in the process of pulling out the piece of wood. It appeared to have once been a leg of a chair that was now broken. What had happened? Had Katherine stabbed herself to gain sympathy or something?

Then Rebecca saw what was happening. Some force was removing the dagger from Elijah's body. How was that happening? She knew it had to be magic, but as far as Rebecca knew not even the Martin's knew where Elijah's body was. In fact, Rebecca hadn't even known until just then. She hadn't stuck around long enough the night before.

Suddenly Damon picked up the flame thrower he'd been using earlier and began shooting flames around Elijah's body.

"What're you doing?" Stefan shouted.

"Shutting down a crazy psychic witch attack. Get over there and do something about it. Now!"

Stefan left, and Rebecca watched as something human shaped stood up from near Elijah's body. It looked teen-sized. She hoped that this wasn't really happening to the physical form of this person.

Despite her better judgment, Rebecca helped Katherine upstairs and onto the couch. Katherine hadn't healed yet, so Rebecca assumed that meant that she hadn't fed properly in a few days.

"Thank you," Katherine said, sounding sincere. "You know I would've left you there."

"Yup, and that's why I'm glad I'm not you. And that's also why you have no friends."

At that moment Damon came back, stake in one hand, bag of blood in the other. He handed Katherine the blood and then drove the stake into her already wounded stomach.

"Damon!" Rebecca exclaimed even as Katherine shouted, "What the hell?"

"That's for not telling me the dagger would kill me," Damon said. "Next time it goes in your heart."

"Is that how you treat someone who is trying to help you?" Katherine asked, removing the stake. She barely flinched as she pulled it out.

"You wanna help? Start talking."

"I'd love to, but you're not going to like it."

"He wouldn't have liked dying," Rebecca said.

Of course Katherine had known what would happen if Damon had used the dagger. He had even mentioned the dagger when he'd talked to her about killing Elijah.

"Isobel has connections with the Watcher's Council. Namely your ex-Watcher. She found out about them when she was researching vampires. Isobel knew that killing Elijah would get me out of the tomb, so she found a way to get the dagger into your hands. Well . . . I could've had her give it to Stefan, but . . . I could only save one of you."

"And you chose Stefan," Damon concluded.

"You wanted the truth. Would you rather I lie?"

"Get out," Rebecca said. "Go away."

Rebecca wasn't even mad. Not really. In Katherine's own way, she loved Stefan, and so she'd chosen to save the one she cared about. If Rebecca had been given the choice between Damon and Stefan, she wouldn't even hesitate to choose to save Damon and to kill Stefan.

No, Rebecca wasn't mad, but she still didn't want Damon near her. Katherine was always so ready to cut him with her words.

Damon's phone vibrated then and he pulled it out of his pocket. Apparently it was just a text message because he looked at the screen quickly and cursed.

"Luka Martin is dead. His father's going after Elena."

"She's at the Grill," Rebecca said. "Maybe we can beat him there."

"I'm coming with you," Katherine said.

"No, you're not," Damon said. "I don't want your help. I don't need it."

"Uh, actually, it's better to work with her," Rebecca said sheepishly. "At least we'll know what she's doing."  
\----------  
As it was, Jonas beat everyone to the Grill. Rebecca met Stefan at the entrance, and Damon hadn't even gone to the Grill. He'd taken Katherine to Elena's house. They hoped to lure Jonas there. Maybe he wouldn't cause too much damage.

Inside, Jonas was talking to Bonnie, who seemed to be trying to talk him down.

"My son is dead," Jonas said. "They killed Elijah and they killed Luka, and my only shot at getting my daughter back is if I have Elena."

Suddenly all the light bulbs in the building exploded, leaving everything in relative darkness. The people began panicking and Rebecca wondered what kind of story the town would come up with to cover this up. Power surge, maybe?

"Go find Elena," Rebecca told Stefan. "I'll do damage control out here. Get her out when you find her. Don't take her home until I call you. Damon and I, uh . . . Katherine had a plan. A good one."

Stefan nodded and took off while Rebecca looked around, trying to figure out what she should do first. Most of the people had already made for the exit, but the others weren't able to get out. Jonas was holding the door shut with his powers.

The bottles behind the bar exploded and the alcohol burst into flames. When Bonnie tried talking again Jonas touched her forehead and she fell unconscious. She fell to the floor then, and Rebecca knew what she needed to do. First, she needed to put the fire out while making sure the flames didn't hurt anyone. Second, stop Jonas from doing any more damage.

Matt, who was with Caroline, rushed over to Bonnie to watch over her, and Caroline made for Rebecca.

"Elena got out," she whispered. "Stefan has her."

"Good," she said, "Help everyone get out."

Rebecca stepped forward, towards Jonas and captured his attention.

"Dr. Martin? I'm sorry about your son. He didn't deserve to die and you didn't deserve to lose him, but we can still help you."

"Elijah was going to do that, and you killed him!"

"I didn't, though. I never wanted him dead. I didn't agree to have him killed."

Jonas couldn't be reasoned with. He had just lost his son, so why would he be? But he couldn't be allowed to hurt anyone else – not that Bonnie was really hurt. Still, Rebecca rushed at him when he began setting more fires and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Stop," she yelled. "You're supposed to believe in the sanctity of life, and you're risking every life in here!"

Rebecca was shoved onto the floor near the bar. She could feel the heat from the fire and she quickly moved away.

"Hey!" Matt yelled and tackled Jonas to the floor. Rebecca wondered if Matt had figured out what was happening. He'd heard them talk about Bonnie being psychic and about her being a witch, but he'd never taken it seriously. She wondered if he was thinking differently now.

Jonas picked up a broken bottle and stabbed Matt with it. He aimed for and struck Matt's neck. Blood splattered everywhere. The scent hit Rebecca's nose before she even registered the fact that Matt had been seriously wounded.

Jonas pushed Matt off and he hit the floor. Matt was already unconscious.

"Matt!" Caroline exclaimed and rushed to his side.

Rebecca was caught between staying with Caroline and going after Jonas, who was now leaving. Caroline was feeding Matt her blood now, so Rebecca decided to stay and make sure he healed correctly.

Bonnie was awake now, sluggishly moving toward Matt and Caroline. She was okay, at least, and Matt's wound was healing fine.

Rebecca had to go. Bonnie needed to come with her. If they could reach Jonas in time, maybe he could be reasoned with. He hadn't wanted to hurt Bonnie.

Before leaving she called Stefan to let him know they needed at least an hour, and she texted Damon to let him know that Jonas was probably on his way to Elena's house.

She hoped the plan would work.  
\----------  
After Rebecca's text, Damon had made himself scarce. Katherine needed to be able to pull off being Elena. Having him around wouldn't help that image at all.

Jeremy hadn't liked having Katherine in the house, but when they'd explained why she was there he'd relented. He obviously liked Jonas even less than he liked Katherine at the moment.

Jonas had found Katherine in the bathroom upstairs. He'd tried to grab her, but Katherine took a big chunk out of his neck.

"You didn't have to kill him!" Bonnie exclaimed when she and Rebecca got there.

"Yes, we did," Katherine said calmly.

"He wouldn't have stopped, Bonnie," Damon said from behind them.

Damon had come back when the two girls had arrived. Stefan and Elena were downstairs, as was Jeremy. Jonas was on the bathroom floor, Katherine standing over him, Bonnie kneeling beside him.

Bonnie tenderly touched his face. Jonas startled everyone when he awakened and grabbed her face. She screamed and he started chanting.

Instinctively Rebecca rushed forward and grabbed Jonas's head, twisting until she heard his neck snap. It wasn't until his body slumped down back to the floor that she realized what it was that she had done.

A hand flew to her mouth and she gasped.

"Good job," Katherine said.

A sound much like a whimper came out of Rebecca's mouth and she continued to stare at the dead man on the floor.

"Shut up, Katherine," Damon said. "Clean the blood off your face and get rid of him. Burn the clothes."

Sure, they were Elena's, but there was blood all over them. She wouldn't want them back.

"Jenna might be home soon," Rebecca said. "Need to hurry."

Damon grabbed her by the shoulders and led her out of the bathroom and downstairs, where the others were.

"Stefan, watch over Katherine. We gotta go."

Outside, in Rebecca's car, Damon let himself hug Rebecca. He knew Rebecca hated killing people and had only let herself kill one other person.

"I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to let Bonnie talk to him."

"That probably wouldn't have worked."

"I know. Still . . ." Rebecca shook her head. "You should see the Grill. He almost burned the place to the ground. With people in it. He almost killed Matt – stabbed him with a bottle – and he almost threw me into a fire."

"Well, then I would've killed him anyway," Damon quipped.

"Yeah." She allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "I just . . . really wanna go get Chelsea. And call Caroline to see how Matt is."  
\----------  
Inside the Gilbert house Stefan and Katherine were getting ready to remove Jonas's body from the bathroom. They needed to get the body back to the boardinghouse until they could get Luka's body from the Martin's apartment.

Elena had already gone to her room, and Bonnie and Jeremy had gone to his. Bonnie had talked to Elena at the Grill that night and had told her that she liked Jeremy. She wanted her blessing to be with him. Elena, of course, had given it. If Bonnie made Jeremy happy then they should be together.

"I can't believe they're dead," Bonnie said. "I couldn't do anything to help. I felt useless. I hated it."

"I'm worried about you," Jeremy said. "The only witch that could have given you your powers back is dead. I'm here for you no matter what, and –"

Jeremy broke off as Bonnie put her hand on his chest. The lights flickered and Bonnie smiled.

"Uh . . . unless I have powers I don't know about . . ."

"When Jonas grabbed me he gave me my powers back. And he gave me something else. He wants me to kill Klaus."

"Did he include a how?"

"Yeah, he did."

They spent the next few minutes going over what she'd found out.  
\----------  
Later that night Damon stopped by the boardinghouse to pick up some stuff for Rebecca and Chelsea. He had to come back the next day, but that didn't mean they had to. No, Damon didn't like Chelsea staying with Robert, but it was safer than having her around Katherine all the time.

"How's Rebecca?" Stefan asked when Damon came downstairs. Stefan and Katherine were seated on opposite sides of the living room.

"She'll be okay." To Katherine he said, "You know what I can't figure out?"

"What's that?"

"How the town knew Emily Bennett was a witch. I mean, because according to Jonathan Gilbert, he was the only one who knew. I know he didn't turn her in."

"Rebecca knew," Katherine said.

"Yeah, but she wouldn't have said anything," Stefan said, catching on. "I mean, she kept your secret and she hates you."

Katherine shrugged but said nothing.

"I should have figured as much."

"Oh, she was a loose end," Katherine said. "I like mine tied up. You know what I can't figure out?"

"Do I care?"

"Why you won't tell me where to find the site of the witch massacre."

"Because I have no clue."

"You stayed in town after you were turned. You would've seen or heard something, and yet you have no idea where Emily was killed? Who's the liar now?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm goin' to Rebecca's now. Have fun with the psycho, Stefan."  
\----------  
At the Forbes house Caroline was trying to reassure Matt that, no matter what he'd seen, she wasn't a threat to him. He had woken up in her house, blood all over his shirt, and he'd remembered Caroline's face. He'd also remembered drinking her blood.

"You were dying. My blood healed you."

"What d'you mean it healed me?" he asked and sat up straight on the couch. "How can it heal me?"

"Because that's what vampire blood does for humans, and that's what I am." Caroline was sitting on a chair across from him. "I'm a vampire, Matt. But it's all gonna be okay, because I am going to tell you everything, and you're going to understand why I had to keep it from you, and we're gonna be fine."

"We'll be fine?"

"Yes, because we're together and we love each other."

She hoped he was okay. They had been having a rough patch, but she'd let him know how much she loved him that night. She'd even sung him a song. Not even two hours ago they had been kissing, full on making out in the girls' bathroom at the Grill.

Matt stood up and took a second to get his balance before going towards the front door.

"I need to get out of here."

"No, I can't let you leave. I cannot let you leave."

Nothing seemed to break through to Matt's brain. Caroline was scared to touch him, he seemed so fragile at the moment. But she couldn't let him leave until she was sure he wouldn't tell anyone what she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know that in the show Stefan is the one who ends up snapping Jonas's neck, but I felt that Rebecca would've done it just for the fact that he was messing with Bonnie - she didn't know Jonas was giving Bonnie her powers back. Plus, I want to play around with what will happen if or when it catches up with her that she's killed someone else - this time without thinking about it. She doesn't really have time to let it hit her right now because everything else is going on, but . . . yeah, we'll see.


	34. Chapter Thirty-Three

The next morning Rebecca had a rude awakening in the form of a phone call from Elena letting her know that Isobel was in town. The woman had just shown up at Elena's doorstep the night before while Jenna was home, so now Jenna knew Isobel wasn't dead and that Alaric hadn't been completely honest with her. She'd found out that Elena and Jeremy had known too, so Jenna wasn't in a good place with them at the moment.

"What's she doing here?" Damon asked, obviously listening with his super-sonic hearing.

"I don't know," Rebecca said. "Elena, what did she want?"

"She said she only wanted to talk to me."

"You didn't invite her in, did you?"

"No, I slammed the door in her face."

"Good girl," Rebecca said.

Considering what Isobel had done the last time she'd been there, Rebecca didn't want to have to worry about her being invited into anyone's home.

"Okay, well, I've already called Stefan. We need to figure out what to do."

"I'll let Ric know," Rebecca said. "I'll call you later to check up on you."

After getting off the phone Rebecca got up and got dressed. Chelsea hadn't woken up yet. Damon seemed to just want to lie there for a few more minutes, and Rebecca was just fine with that.

"Damon, maybe you should be the one to call Ric. You are closer to him."

He grunted, which Rebecca decided to take as a yes.

"We shouldn't let Isobel know that Katherine is here. They're worked together before. Lead her not into temptation and all that."

"Yeah, good." Rebecca sat down on the bed again. "Do you wanna just hang here for a while? We'll probably need to go to Elena's later. We'll be closer if we stay here."

"Whatever you want."

"Then, yeah. Here. Not with Katherine."  
\----------  
An hour later, at the Gilbert residence, Ric was knocking on the door. He was determined to be let in. He had dropped Jenna off the night before to make sure she'd gotten home safe from the Grill.

Once inside the house he didn't go anywhere past the front hallway. Elena had let him in.

"She won't come out of her room," she said. "She won't talk to me. She's been in there since last night."

"We're gonna have to fix this, Elena."

"How?"

Ric had no idea. He had been lying since he'd met Jenna. Unless he told her everything, there was no way he could fix anything.

A few minutes later Jenna came downstairs, an overnight bag over her shoulder. She stopped at the foot of the stairs and glared at Ric.

"I don't want you here, Ric. You need to go."

"I can't imagine what you must be going through right now," he said, almost cringing at how lame he knew that sounded.

"Rage and betrayal would pretty much cover it."

She grabbed a jacket from the coat rack near the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to stay on campus. I have a thesis to write, and I don't want to be in this house."

"Jenna, please, just stop," Alaric said. "Let us explain to you exactly what is going on."

She ignored him and looked at Elena. "I need you to go to the Lockwoods today and accept the Historical Society's check for your mom's foundation."

"Okay, but . . . Jenna, please –"

"I don't have it in me to hear any more lies from you."

She did leave then. Ric stuck around until Stefan showed up. Stefan was on the phone with Caroline, who seemed to be having problems with Matt again.  
\----------  
Stefan really didn't know what to do. There were so many problems right now, but he knew he couldn't leave Elena unprotected.

Caroline had called him when he'd been on his way to Elena's to let him know that Matt knew what she was. He didn't know about anyone else, but still . . . Her mom had come home last night and Caroline had had no choice but to let him leave. Now she couldn't find him and he wasn't answering his phone.

Caroline didn't think her mom had heard anything bad – Liz had asked why she and Matt were fighting but that had been it.

"A'right, listen. You have to find him. You have to calm him down – compel him if you have to. Is he still on the vervain?"

"I slip it into his soda when he's at work, but I didn't get to last night, so it's out of his system. He has a catering shift as the Lockwood's today. I'm gonna try there."

Caroline hung up and Stefan did the same. He looked at Elena, who was lying on her bed in her room looking up at him worriedly.

"This is bad," she said. "Between Isobel and Jenna and now Matt, this is disaster bad."

"Hey, Elena!" Jeremy called from downstairs. "Uh, someone's here to see you!"

Stefan didn't hear anyone other than Jeremy downstairs. Only supernatural creatures could be so silent. He was curious as to who was there, so he led Elena downstairs. Jeremy was standing at the bottom, the open front door behind him.

Outside, standing on the porch, was Isobel. She seemed calm, almost emotionless, cold even.

"Jer?" Elena asked.

"She says she has information about Klaus."

"Since I was last here I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus. I knew your best chance was to find him before he could find you."

"Best chance at what?" Stefan asked.

"Keeping Elena alive." Isobel looked at Elena. "Can I come in?"

"No," Elena said. "You don't get to do anything. Not after everything you've done."

Stefan put a steadying hand on Elena's shoulder.

"Were you able to find Klaus?"

"No. Nobody knows where he is, but there are rumors that are flying around that a doppelganger exists."

"Come in," Jeremy said. When Elena began to protest he continued with, "Any vampire who knows you could try to get at you and take you away. If she can help, I'm all for it."

Isobel stepped inside and shut the door even as Elena shook her head.

"I'm not buying any of this. The last time you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a crap about me. Now all of a sudden I'm supposed to believe that you want to help?"

The last time Isobel had been in Mystic Falls, Matt had had his arm broken and Jeremy had been kidnapped.

"Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries," Isobel said. "All it would've taken was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so John and I plotted to have them killed."

"You almost killed Stefan and Damon in the process."

Isobel didn't deny or apologize for doing the things she'd done. She just moved closer to Elena and made her an offer.

"I have a safe house that I can take you to. The deed is in your name. No vampire can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you."

"You wanna help? Then get out of my house."  
\----------  
Rebecca's plan to stay at her dad's house for the day lasted until about two that afternoon when Bonnie called to ask her to go with her to the Martin's house. Bonnie wanted to pick up the grimoires they had collected over the years.

Rebecca and Damon met Bonnie at the Martin's apartment building. Jeremy was with her. As soon as they arrived Jeremy let them know about Isobel coming back and that he'd invited her in.

"Jer!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Why?"

"She says she can help, and I sort of believe her."

"You do remember what happened last time, don't you?" Damon asked. "She kidnapped you."

"Because she wanted something from Elena. We have nothing she wants now."

"Stefan is still with her?"

"Yeah. She's safe. Where's Chelsea?"

"With Robert," Rebecca answered.

With Katherine in town it was best all-around for Chelsea not to be at the boarding house. Plus, Chelsea needed to be around Robert more often. As much as Rebecca wanted to keep Chelsea, she couldn't. When Robert left in July, Chelsea would be going with him.

Robert was off of vervain now and Rebecca was planning on compelling him to take cake of Chelsea the way a father should.

Once inside Rebecca had to cover her mouth and nose. Luka's burnt corpse was there in the living room.

"So he really was burned," she said. "What a horrible way to die."

"And ironic," Damon said, "seeing as he was a warlock."

Bonnie went straight for the grimoires. They were stacked in a book case against the wall. She opened the duffle bag she'd brought with her.

"Think we could just take 'em and cremate 'em?" Damon asked, squatting down beside the body.

They already had Jonas's body in the trunk of Damon's Camaro. Rebecca still had the key; they could take both bodies to the funeral home, but . . .

"How would we explain it?" Rebecca asked. "Let's just bury them."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Jeremy asked Bonnie.

"According to Luka's dad, one of these contains a spell that'll let me harness the energy that's left behind when a witch dies violently."

"Uh . . . Bonnie . . . How are you supposed to do that?" Rebecca asked.

"He gave me a message before he . . . um . . . died."

Rebecca tensed. She knew Bonnie had been about to say 'before you killed him,' but she was grateful Bonnie hadn't.

"If I can find the spot in town where the old Salem witches were burned I can harness their energy to use when I need it."

"Again . . . how?" Rebecca asked. "You don't have your powers. He took them, remember?"

Jeremy grinned and picked out a Grimiore from the bookcase.

"Are we gonna have to read through every one of these books until we find the right spell?"

"Not exactly," Bonnie said.

Bonnie closed her eyes and raised her hands. The grimoires fell off the shelf and onto the carpeted floor. One of them opened to a certain page and Bonnie opened her eyes. She smiled down at the book and picked it up.

"It's this one."

Damon stood up from over the body and smirked.

"Great. Who else knows you have your powers back."

"Only the people in this room."

"We should keep it that way."

"Thanks for sharing, Bonnie," Rebecca teased.

Not even a full five minutes later they had packed the grimoires in the duffle bags Bonnie had brought along and had put them in the backseat of Bonnie's car.

They had also put the Martin's in Damon's trunk. It had been a tight fit, but they had worked it out eventually.  
\----------  
On the way to bury them, Elena called to tell them about Isobel coming back. Rebecca didn't mention that Jeremy had already told her what had happened.

"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelganger?"

"Well, you haven't been so careful about hiding it," Rebecca said. "Plus . . . Katherine."

Rebecca looked at Damon, who would've heard Elena's question even if he hadn't wanted to – vampire hearing and all.

"Look, just don't leave the house without one of us with you and you should be fine."

"Yeah. I'm going with Stefan to the luncheon at the Lockwood mansion. Some historical thing my mom was into. I have to accept something in her honor."

"A'right. I'll check in later. Uh, Damon and I have to take care of something."

After they hung up Rebecca turned to Damon then. "So . . . why didn't you tell Bonnie that you knew where she needed to go to channel that energy.?"

Damon shrugged from the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel.

"Didn't want her going without me."

"Oh."

Rebecca smiled. She should have realized that would be the reason. Besides, the only reason she knew was because she'd been there when Damon had shown Stefan.

"We'll meet them at the old Lockwood estate once we're done here, okay?"  
\----------  
And so it was, two hours later, that they met up with Bonnie and Jeremy again. Rebecca and Damon had buried the Martin's bodies far enough in the woods they hoped no one would find them.

"Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed too?" Jeremy asked as they stopped outside the old estate.

"Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned," Damon answered.

"How do you know where the witches were burned," Bonnie asked.

"Journal," Damon answered. "Found out yesterday."

Rebecca sighed. This place had good and bad memories for her. Good because she had played there as a child – not in the house, of course, but on the grounds. She'd come there with Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline.

The bad memories had more to do with the fact that the place had always given her the creeps than anything else. Now she knew why.

The house itself was chaired almost to the point of blackness, and Rebecca hoped it was stable enough because they needed to go inside.

Bonnie went in first, seeing as to how she was the witch, and sat up candles and the Grimiore she needed. She let the others know when it was safe to come in.

Almost as soon as they were all in the living room area Damon said, "Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny."

Rebecca looked at him but saw nothing wrong so she looked at Bonnie, who shrugged.

"I'm not doing anything."

"I can't move."

"Witches," Rebecca muttered.

She remembered that Emily had done this to her once when Bonnie had been possessed by her ancestor. It had been super uncomfortable to not be able to move when she wanted.

The stench of burning flesh hit Rebecca's nose before Damon said anything about his ring not working anymore.

"Emily!" Rebecca exclaimed. Then to Bonnie, "Do something."

"I don't think the witches like him being here," she said but closed her eyes anyway and began to chant.

Suddenly Damon was able to move and he hid in the shadows. Of course, Bonnie had picked a sunlit room.

"I'm gonna go wait outside," Damon said. "If my ring will work."

Damon's ring did work, he was relieved to find out. He was happy when Rebecca followed him. He'd been almost certain that she'd been going to, but still . . . he didn't want to take for granted that she wanted to be with him whenever she could.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah."

He was completely healed. He hadn't been burned badly or for that long, really, and it hadn't taken much energy to heal himself.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

The only response he received was a shrug. Rebecca had been a little off since the night before, since she'd killed Jonas. Damon understood. She hated killing people. Jonas was, in fact, only the second human she'd ever killed. He was the first human that she'd killed by instinct, however, and Damon knew it was weighing on her.

She'd flinched when Bonnie had mentioned Jonas's death even though the witch hadn't blamed her, and she hadn't been able to touch Jonas's body when they'd buried him and Luka.

Rebecca hadn't really cried since killing the man, but maybe she needed to. Granted, they'd been busy, so she hadn't really had time to emote in her usual way, but still . . . Damon knew she despised the murderous part of herself and probably felt at least somewhat guilty.

"I wonder how long this is gonna take," Rebecca said and gestured back into the house.

Only a few moments had passed but already Bonnie had come into contact with the witches that had been burned in the house. Damon could hear the whispers of the spirits. He assumed Rebecca could too. He couldn't tell what they were saying and he didn't really care what was being said. He just wanted this to work.

Damon's phone rang. He found that his brother was calling him when he checked the ID screen.

"Stefan?"

"Elena is missing," Stefan said. He sounded groggy, as if he'd just woken up. "Katherine did something. Elena was with me, but Katherine switched before we left."

"Why does he sound so out of it?" Rebecca asked.

When Damon asked Stefan said that Katherine had dosed him with a syringe full of vervain. If they hadn't been working up an immunity to the herb, Stefan probably wouldn't have been awake yet.

"Meet us back at home," Damon said. "You need to feed, get your strength back."

He hung up and turned to Rebecca then. "It's gotta be Isobel and Katherine."

"Yeah. Agreed."

Rebecca opened the door and stuck her head in. "Guys, are you okay here? Stefan needs help."

"We'll be fine," Jeremy called out. "I'll get a ride home with Bonnie."  
\----------  
At the same time, across town, Caroline had come to her house. She'd been almost everywhere she could think of that Matt could have been, but she hadn't been able to find him. Until now. Matt was seated on a chair in her living room.

"Your mom brought me here," he said. "I accused her of covering up Vicki's death and she threatened to arrest me."

"Did you tell her anything else?"

"Nothing about you."

Caroline hated this, the tension between them. Matt was afraid of her, and she was afraid he would tell someone her secret.

"I got the feeling she wasn't gonna believe anything I said, so I shut up. Then she brought me here to cool down. She got called away."

Caroline moved towards him but stopped when his whole body began to stiffen.

"Why'd you stick around if you're still scared of me?"

"Because I need to know more about Vicki, and about you."

She told him, to the best of her knowledge, everything he wanted to know. What she knew was that Vicki had died a vampire – that was why no one had been allowed to see her body at the funeral. The town had used the excuse of Vicki's body having decomposed, which would've been true had she died human. She knew Vicki had been killed because she'd attacked Elena and Jeremy. She knew Damon's blood had turned her. Vicki had died by accident, and Stefan had had no choice in ending her life. Stefan and Rebecca had tried helping her, but Vicki hadn't been one to accept help.

Caroline hoped she wasn't making a mistake by telling Matt everything.  
\----------  
"This is the house?" Stefan asked as he, Damon, and Rebecca pulled up to a huge two story house.

"Better be. It's the nicest foreclosure in town."

"If she's not here . . ."

"Don't be such a pessimist."

The three vampires entered the house without a problem, so no one owned the house. Damon had taught Isobel to always pick the most expensive bank foreclosures when she was planning on staying in one place for a while. This was just the type of place he'd taught her to take over.

"I'll check upstairs," Stefan said.

Damon knew no one was there, however, because he had been focusing his hearing and there had been no noises at all. Stefan hadn't been drinking human blood for long, and his senses weren't as strong as they should have been. His hearing wasn't as acute as Damon's was – or Rebecca's for that matter – but Damon knew his brother had to see for himself. Stefan wouldn't be satisfied otherwise.

Rebecca took off on her own, but didn't stay away long. She'd found luggage in what was probably the living room.

"This is Isobel's stuff," Damon said. He could smell Isobel's scent in the room now. "It's definitely the right place."

"So . . . where is she?"

"I don't know."

"Elena hasn't been here," Rebecca said. "I don't smell her, but . . . Katherine's been here. Recently."

Damon agreed. Katherine had been there. Someone else had been there too, but Damon didn't recognize the scent.

"Isobel must've taken Elena from the Lockwood mansion while Katherine was pretending to be her."

"I swear, we need to get Elena a tracking device. Implant one in her, even."

"Would speed things up a bit," Damon said.  
\----------  
"I'm all alone," Matt said.

He'd sit through Caroline's explanation, all of it, and had learned that Caroline had fed from him before, months ago, and had compelled him to forget. She hadn't meant to hurt him and had avoided him after. He remembered she'd been acting crazy and now he knew why. She'd been adjusting to becoming a vampire.

"My mom doesn't care, my sister's dead, and all of my friends are liars, and you're a . . ."

"I'm still me."

"No. This is too much. All of this is just too much. I don't want to know this."

Elena had known about Vicki – everyone knew, really. Stefan was a vampire, Damon was a vampire, even Rebecca was a vampire. He had been dating a vampire, and he loved her. But he couldn't be with her.

"Tell me what I can do," Caroline said. "I want to help you."

"You can make me forget. You've done it before. Please make me forget, Caroline. I don't wanna look at you and see what I'm seeing right now."

"Matt . . ." she said as tears fell.

"Just make me forget, Caroline!"

To her credit, Caroline did try to compel him. She didn't want him remembering what he'd learned or what he'd seen at the Grill the night before. She did that for him.

It wasn't her fault that he had vervain in his system. It wasn't her fault that Matt was now working for the Sheriff.  
\----------  
When Stefan, Damon, and Rebecca found Elena, the girl was kneeling in front of a pile of ash that was in the vague shape of a body. Isobel.

Stefan had received a call from Elena and had found out that Isobel had double-crossed Katherine. Katherine had been kidnapped by a warlock that was working for Klaus. Isobel had been working for Klaus, though Elena thought she'd been compelled to do so.

Isobel had taken Elena to Grove Hill Cemetery. Isobel had grown up in Grove hill, and now she'd died there. Isobel had chosen her grave site and had removed her lapis lazuli necklace; she'd burned to death.

Elena was holding the necklace, staring in shock. She wasn't crying, though, and she was aware enough to know the three had arrived, but it wasn't until they were all on the way back to Mystic Falls that they really began talking.

"I never thought I would feel bad about her being dead, and yet."

"She was your mother," Stefan said.

"Hm. Why did she let me go?"

"Well, Isobel knew, so we have to assume that Klaus knows about you, so he knows you're not gonna turn yourself into a vampire. He knows that you have us keeping you safe."

"He knows I'm not gonna run."

"Which is why we need to take some precautions, 'cause we got played," Damon said. "All of us."

"Isobel had the right idea with the safe house. You'll just stay at our house until it's over. We can sign the house over to you and you can control who gets invited and who doesn't."

Elena wondered if Jeremy would consider moving into the boardinghouse until all this was over. She just wanted everyone she loved to be safe.  
\----------  
Once back in Mystic Falls, they took Elena home to pick up some clothes and to get Jeremy. They had been gone so long that Bonnie and Jeremy had found their way there. They were in Jeremy's room, on the bed, with Bonnie's Grimiore open between them.

Rebecca stepped inside the room and waited for them to acknowledge her presence before sitting beside Bonnie.

"So . . . did it work?"

Bonnie nodded. "I should be able to take out Klaus without a problem."

"They warned her against using that much power, though," Jeremy said. "Using too much power at once can kill her."

Rebecca wondered how much was too much.

"How much would it take to kill an Original?"

"All of it,' Bonnie admitted softly.

"No, I'm not gonna let you do that," Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, do you think I was born with these powers so I could float feathers and light candles? There's a reason I was called to do this."

"No one's called to get themselves killed," Jeremy countered. "Plus, Elena's not gonna let you die for her."

"That's why you're not gonna tell her."

"Do you even understand what you're saying right now?"

"It's not just for Elena, Jeremy. It's for you. For everyone. And if I'm the only one that can put an end to this, then it'll be my decision, no one else's. Mine."

Rebecca didn't really know what to say or if, in fact, she should say anything at all. She did want to let Bonnie know that she supported her decision, though.

"I won't tell Elena. And it is your life, so it's your decision. But, like I told Elena . . . last resort, okay? Don't die unless it's necessary."

"Becca!" Jeremy said. She could read the confusion and betrayal on his face and in his voice.

"Jer, Klaus is bad. Elijah was called an Easter bunny compared to him. We don't want him running loose, and there are some things worth dying for."

It hit Rebecca then that Katherine didn't know that Bonnie had her powers back, didn't know she'd even been trying. That meant that Isobel hadn't known, which meant Klaus wouldn't know, assuming Isobel had been his informant.

Speaking of . . . Jeremy had no clue what had happened that day. She hadn't told him.

"Uh . . . Jer, Elena needs you right now. She . . . she was kidnapped earlier. Isobel . . ."

Jeremy basically jumped off the bed and went to the door before stopping and turning back around.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"She was in Grove Hill. Isobel let her go and she's not hurt. You were helping Bonnie and I didn't want you distracted. If we hadn't been able to find her, I would've told you."

Rebecca was relieved when Jeremy didn't get mad at her. He looked disappointed, but he wasn't angry.

"Please don't start keeping things from me," he said. "Everyone else does that already."  
\----------  
Later that night, at the boardinghouse, Damon found out that the moonstone was missing. Katherine must've taken it, and now he didn't know where she was. She probably wasn't coming back if she had what she wanted, and if she ever got free of her kidnapper.

He threw the soap bowl to the ground and Rebecca appeared in the bathroom doorway as the bowl shattered.

"It's gone," he said.

"You're the one who put it in a soap dish," she said. "Told you it was a bad idea."

She had told him that, but that wasn't what he wanted to hear so he changed the subject.

"Are we bringing Chelsea home?"

"I'm staying at Robert's again."

"Why? Katherine isn't coming back."

Rebecca looked at the ground. There was nothing interesting there, so Damon knew she was going to say something he wouldn't like.

"Becca?"

"I'm staying with Robert tonight. He leaves in June, and Chelsea is going with him."

She looked up then, her face set, tears in her green eyes. He saw she needed him to agree with her, needed him to support her decision, and he did – logically. Emotionally, he didn't want to let go. Chelsea didn't belong to him, but she had become part of him.

"I'm going to compel him to take care of her. I need to see if it works before . . ." Rebecca swallowed thickly. "I need to know she'll be taken care of."

"You know you can't compel real love," Damon said, stepping closer. The missing moonstone didn't matter at the moment.

"I know, but I can make him think he loves her. Maybe he really will one day." Rebecca shrugged. "Either way, they need to get used to each other."

At least Chelsea was used to not sleeping in Rebecca's room anymore. They slept in the same room at Roberts out of necessity, but Chelsea could sleep alone just fine.

"Damon, you need to come with me. I need you to come with me."

Damon did, and that was how he found himself in Rebecca's old house watching her compel her father to be the father Chelsea needed. Rebecca didn't cry; she seemed determined not to.

Afterwards, Damon and Rebecca lay in her bed and he rubbed her back while she remained silent. Well, she was physically silent. Mentally, she was speaking a mile a minute. He couldn't read her mind, of course, but . . . he knew her enough to know that sometimes her mind wouldn't shut up. Now was one of those times.

She would let him in once she had everything sorted in her own head.


	35. Chapter Thirty-Four

When Damon woke up the next morning Rebecca wasn't in the bed, but Chelsea was in her crib. Damon heard Rebecca and her father in the living room. She was checking to see if the compulsion had taken the night before.

"You know you can still change your mind," Robert was saying. "We don't leave for another few weeks. I can still buy another plane ticket."

"No, Dad," she said. "My life is here. Chelsea can't be a part of it. It's too dangerous. That's why Tina left, it's why you're leaving, and it's why you have to take Chelsea with you."

Damon listened to their back and forth conversation, knowing it was hard for Rebecca to admit they needed to give up Chelsea – especially to Robert. Damon didn't like it either, but with the battle that was coming, Chelsea needed to not be in Mystic Falls.

They still needed to find Klaus so that Bonnie could take him out. She'd told Rebecca she'd channeled enough power to be able to defeat him. Damon hoped that was true because it would make everything so much easier.

What would also make things easier was if Bonnie could do a tracking spell, but she couldn't, not without something that belonged to Klaus, and with the moonstone gone they had nothing.

Katherine had taken it, and she was either dead, tied up somewhere being tortured and used for information, or she'd taken off on her own and was hundreds of miles away by now. Damon really didn't know what he preferred when it came to Katherine Pierce.

Once Rebecca was done speaking to Robert she came back in the room, face determined. She was not changing her mind. Damon was not going to talk about it.

"So, Stefan has probably signed over the house," Damon started. "He said first thing this morning, and it's almost noon."

It was weird, but Damon actually stayed up later at night now more than he had before he'd met Rebecca. Slept later in the mornings, too.

"We need to be invited in then," Rebecca said. "That should be fun. Elena will tease."

And she did. Once Damon and Rebecca got there, Elena wouldn't agree to let them in unless they agreed to do things her way. Damon agreed so she'd let him inside; Rebecca didn't agree and was let inside anyway.

Bonnie was there, and Stefan had already been invited in. Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan looked like they were getting ready to leave.

"Where're you going?" Damon asked.

"To school," Elena answered.

"No. We didn't create a safe house just so you could leave it."

"Look, I really appreciate what you guys are doing, and I'll be able to sleep at night knowing I'll be safe here, but I'm not gonna be a prisoner."

"Don't worry," Bonnie said. "If he shows his face, I can take him. I know how."

"The way I see it, next to Bonnie is the safest place that I can be."

Elena led Stefan and Bonnie out of the house, and Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"She's not gonna have a life to live, if she doesn't protect it. Sometimes I don't know why we try."

"Because she's your friend."

"Yeah, I know." She sent Damon a weary smile. "Just running my mouth."  
\----------  
At school Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan sat in their seats in the history room. Class had yet to start so Ric hadn't arrived. The students were more worried about the paper advertising the sixties dance coming up anyway.

Stefan was completely against it, but both Elena and Bonnie seemed interested. Elena was smug about having outvoted him, but Stefan guessed that meant he'd just have to go.

"Hello, class," Ric said as he stepped in the room and went to his desk. "What are we learning today?"

They'd been learning about the sixties because of the dance theme.

"I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but . . . Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban Missile thing, the . . . we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."

"Watergate was the seventies," Elena corrected.

"Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, the seventies. Thank you, Elena."

Stefan stayed with Elena as often as he could during school. Between him, Bonnie, Caroline, and Jeremy, she was almost never alone. At lunch a girl came up to the group to let them know that someone named Klaus had been asking whether or not she'd be going to the dance.

"Where is he?" Bonnie asked. "Is he here?"

"I don't know."

The emptiness of her eyes let Stefan know the girl was being compelled.

"Now we have to go to the dance. So we can find him," Elena said.

"Really? How are we gonna do that? We don't know what he looks like."

"Well, we know he's not a student, and we know all the teachers and the usual chaperones," Bonnie said.

"He might not even show up," Jeremy said. "He compelled that girl; he might compel someone to come in his place."

"Let's meet at the boardinghouse after school," Stefan suggested. "Damon and Rebecca need to know what happened. So does Ric."

"I'll meet you guys at the dance," Caroline said. "Matt's picking me up tonight."

"Okay, so . . . we find him and then what?" Elena asked. "What's our plan of attack?"

"Me," Bonnie said. "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."

"Maybe Becca can help with that," Jeremy said. "She can tire him out for you, make it easier."

"Sure, if she wants." Bonnie gave an almost relieved smile. "We can work together for this."  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse, once everyone was there, Bonnie and Jeremy joined Damon and Rebecca in the living room while Stefan and Elena went to check for an outfit for Elena. There had to be something; their ancestors had been packrats.

Once Elena was out of hearing distance Jeremy took off his ring, the one that would protect him from death by supernatural creature.

"I want you to have this," he told Bonnie.

"The ring won't work on me, Jeremy."

"But it was made by a witch."

"To protect from the Supernatural, not for someone who is."

Damon didn't know what he'd missed, but he'd obviously missed something.

"Are you going to need anything tonight?" Rebecca asked.

"Maybe your help. I can take him, but I may need your help luring him in."

Rebecca nodded. "No problem." She turned to Damon. "Guess we're chaperoning again. Think you have anything I can wear?"

"Probably. We can check the attic."

On the way up Damon asked about the ring thing.

Rebecca sighed. "Bonnie doesn't want Elena knowing, but . . . the power it will take to kill Klaus might actually kill her."

She was speaking softly enough that only Damon could hear, so he knew Stefan didn't know about this either. Apparently no one other than Jeremy, Bonnie, and Rebecca had.

"How'd she find that out?"

"The witches warned her once she'd taken the power into herself."

"Hm. What'd you say when you found out?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I told her that it was her life. I don't . . . like it, but, I mean, we don't have much choice. We need a way to kill Klaus."

"And if she could defeat him without dying?"

She grinned. "That's preferable. Why?"

"I may have something. I'll talk to Bonnie."

Damon continued up the stairs and he heard her follow him.

"Well, aren't you gonna tell me what that something is?"

"Nope. We have to find you a dress."

She squinted her eyes at him. "You know, if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't let you get away with not telling me what you're planning."

Damon could've smirked then, but he didn't. Instead he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Her eyes softened, which was a relief considering he'd been hearing that she'd been willing to let her friends just die. He kissed her, just a brief and gentle few seconds of contact, but that was all they needed at the moment.

They had other things they needed to focus on.  
\----------  
In the attic Elena was already going through the box of clothes Stefan had gotten out for her. There were so many things she liked, and she'd put aside a few things she thought Bonnie and Rebecca might like.

In fact, Elena was fairly certain that Rebecca would head straight for the black thigh length dress. It had a while flower pattern to it, and there were cute black ankle boots to go with it. All in all, it was adorable, and Rebecca could fight in the outfit.

Damon and Rebecca came in then, and Rebecca homed in on the dress Elena had set aside for her.

"How're you doing?" Damon asked her.

"Um . . . freaking out a bit," she answered. "You?"

"Cool as a cucumber. Remember the last decade dance? The vampires were all argh!" He growled. "And you were all aahh!"

"Right." She grinned. "And you won!"

"Yes, we did."

"Considering this is an original," Stefan said, "I think we should take in vervain tonight."

"Yeah," Rebecca agreed. "And we need to feed properly. We need our strength."

Damon agreed by nodding. "I'll get everything set up."

Damon met Jeremy on the way downstairs. He was making his way to the attic, it seemed. He didn't envy Jeremy's position at all. He was stuck between the lives of his sister and his girlfriend. It couldn't be a fun place to be.

Alaric had made his way to the boardinghouse while Damon had been in the attic. He was talking to Bonnie, but Damon didn't mind butting in.

"I need the witch for a second," he said. "I also need to be written down as a chaperone. Becca, too. And watch out for anything funky tonight."

He gestured for Bonnie to follow him and, surprisingly, she did without a fuss.

"Becca told me about what'll happen," he said, leading Bonnie to the cellar. "So you'd lay it all on the line for Elena. No matter what?"

"No matter what." Bonnie stopped following him. "You can't tell her."

"Your secret's safe with me, but I mean . . . with all that power, isn't there a way to increase your odds?"

"Careful, Damon. I might start to think you actually care."

"We wouldn't want that."

They had reached the cellar by then and Damon gestured to the purple plant there.

"We need enough to keep us from being compelled."

"Right. You know, I don't know why they don't just put this stuff in the water supply. The Council knows about it, and it would keep the other vampires away."

"Hush," Damon said. "Don't even think it. Though, from your prospective, I can see why that would be good."

Bonnie nodded and began breaking off sprigs of vervain for him.  
\----------  
Upstairs, Jeremy had taken Stefan aside – well, actually, he'd been about to tell Elena what would happen to Bonnie if she went through with killing Klaus, but then he'd decided it wasn't his place to tell her. Bonnie didn't want her knowing, but he had to talk to someone – and not Rebecca, because he already knew where she stood.

"If Bonnie takes on Klaus, channeling all that energy's gonna kill her, but she doesn't want Elena to know, 'cause if Elena knows, she's gonna try to stop her. And it's Elena that could turn up dead, so . . . what am I supposed to do?"

"Who else knows?"

"Um, Rebecca, and probably Damon."

"What did Rebecca say?"

"That it's Bonnie's life to give if that was what she wanted."

"Okay, well." Stefan shrugged. "Maybe it won't matter. Klaus might not even show up, and if he does, I'll handle Elena. I never said I wouldn't tell her."  
\----------  
Literally a few minutes after everyone arrived at the dance, Klaus made his presence known – or, well, sort of. He got a student to dedicate a song to Elena in his name.

"Maybe he's not here," Stefan said. "He just wants us to believe that he is."

"Whether he's here or not, we should try to enjoy ourselves," Rebecca said. "We'll stand out if we don't dance."

"Good idea."

Bonnie grabbed Jeremy's arm and began tugging. He reluctantly followed her. Stefan grabbed Elena's hand; she gladly followed him.

Caroline and Matt had already been there when the others had arrived – they had come as JFK and Jackie O'.

The only two left were Damon and Rebecca. Strictly speaking they didn't have to dance as they were there in a chaperone capacity.

In fact, both Damon and Rebecca did more watching than they did dancing, and so when Jeremy stepped out and was followed by three other guys Damon caught it almost instantly.

"Stay here with Bonnie and Elena. Something's not right. Keep an ear out."

Rebecca nodded as he walked off, noticing that Stefan was already heading to the door. He must have noticed Jeremy's situation as well.

They followed the sound of flesh hitting flesh only to find Jeremy fighting three guys – the ones that had followed him. He was doing okay, but he had a bloody nose and a bruise forming on his cheek.

Once Stefan and Damon arrived, they pulled two of the guys off of Jeremy, and one of them had a stake up his sleeve.

Klaus's doing, Damon assumed, grabbing the one with the stake and considering snapping his neck.

"No. No, no, no. Don't kill him," Stefan said. "He's being compelled."

"So?"

"So . . . the whole thing's a distraction. Klaus is actually here, and we left the girls alone."

Rebecca.

Elena.

Bonnie.

Damon threw the guy against the locker hard enough to probably knock the compulsion loose before taking off in search of his friends.  
\----------  
Back in the gym where all the students were, Rebecca, Bonnie, and Elena were off to the side because Ric had taken them to the side. Apparently, Jeremy had been kidnapped.

"What?" Both Elena and Bonnie exclaimed.

Without question the girls followed him. Rebecca wondered what had happened to Damon and Stefan if Klaus had actually gotten hold of Jeremy

"Where are you taking us?" Elena asked.

"Just a little further."

"If . . . if Klaus has Jeremy, how do you know?" Rebecca asked.

"Where is Jeremy?" Bonnie asked.

Rebecca stopped walking first and grabbed the other two girls. As if sensing they had stopped behind him, Ric turned around and laughed.

"I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties. Ugh! Not my decade. I mean, whose call was that anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."

"Ric, what are you talking about?" Rebecca asked.

He didn't seem compelled. His eyes weren't glassy or empty and he wasn't acting like a robot.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"Okay, I'll give you a hint. I am not Alaric."

"Klaus . . ."

"Surprise!" he sing-songed, and made a mocking bow.

"That's not possible. Ric . . ."

"Just relax. I'm not here to hurt you, Elena. You're not on my hit list tonight." Then to Bonnie, "But you are."

Ric was thrown backwards against the wall and he hit the ground hard. He got up without a problem, though.

"Now, did I mention that I know a witch? You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that."

He moved toward them and was thrown into a glass display case for his efforts. He only laughed. To Rebecca that was the creepiest part.

"By all means . . ." Ric – or Ric's body at least – got up and threw his arms open wide. "Fire away! If you kill this body, I'll just get a new one. Maybe Jeremy."

"We have to run," Rebecca said. "We have to find Stefan and Damon!"

She had figured out two things just seconds ago. Ric was alive even if Klaus was in control at the moment, so the first thing she'd realized was that, logically, Ric might have to die. Yes, Klaus could find another body, but it would buy them time. The second thing she'd realized was that Klaus knew about Bonnie's powers, about the energy she would have to expend, and that it would kill her. He knew and he wanted her to use them. He wanted Bonnie gone – Klaus saw her as a threat and he was scared of her.

They went through a set of double doors, and Bonnie slammed them as they went through. Two hallways later they almost slammed into Damon.

"Klaus is in Alaric's body."

"What?"

"He's possessing him or something," Bonnie said. "Ric's not at home."

"We need to find Stefan. Now," Damon said. "Elena, we'll be here, staying between you and Klaus."

"Okay."

She ran off, and if Rebecca hadn't been completely sure that Klaus really wasn't looking to hurt her at the moment she would have gone with her.

"Can you kill him?" Damon asked Bonnie.

"He's got some kind of protection spell."

"You have the power of a hundred witches. Break it."

"If I kill Alaric, he'll just possess someone else. He knows I have power, Damon. He's trying to kill me."

Rebecca nodded. "He's been taunting her to use it."

"No. Klaus does not get to win tonight. No way. You still willing to do whatever it takes to kill him?"

Bonnie nodded. "Just help me find him."

They found him in the cafeteria, just waiting calmly for them. Bonnie didn't know if that scared her or just made her angry. Who did this guy think he was, anyway, coming into town only to want to ruin everyone's life?

"What took you so long?" he asked. "And do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Bonnie imagined Ric's wrist bone popping out of place and it did, but he healed. She didn't know how that was possible. Ric wasn't a vampire no matter who was possessing him.

"The hard way. Got it."

His shoulder was then dislocated – basically Bonnie was just finding ways to hurt him. She didn't know if she had it in her to kill him yet, not when he was in Ric's body. Although . . . Ric wouldn't want to live that way. He wouldn't want to be used for Klaus's purposes.

Bonnie's nose started to bleed. She wiped the liquid away.

"Is that all you've got?"

"Let's find out."

Bonnie continued making small things happen just so she could appear to not know what she was doing. The plan was to expend energy inefficiently, to give Klaus a false sense of security.

She just hoped it worked.  
\----------  
Outside the cafeteria, Damon and Rebecca stood watching and waiting. So far the only outward appearance of weakness on Bonnie's side was her bloody nose. She had hurt Klaus – at least, Rebecca hoped it was only Klaus feeling the pain – but he kept getting back up.

Wind picked up in the cafeteria and flyers started swirling around the air. The light bulbs exploded, making sparks shoot from the ceiling. Why was Bonnie using so much energy and not even focusing it on Klaus?

"What is she doing?"

"What she has to," Damon said.

"No. What she has to do is kill Klaus. If she kills Ric, he'll just find someone else. It would give us time; it would be worth it. But she's not even controlling herself at the moment."

She tried to go through the doors, but they wouldn't budge. They weren't locked, and Damon hadn't stopped her. Bonnie, however, had. That meant she was controlling herself. She was doing all this on purpose.

Suddenly Stefan and Elena were there with her, trying to get the doors open. Elena was screaming for Bonnie's attention, but Bonnie was focused on whatever she was doing. Bonnie did look their way for a brief second so she could send them a small sad smile.

The wind that shouldn't have existed in the enclosed space picked up and the tables flew every which way across the floor, and a vending machine scooted fast enough to knock Klaus to the floor.

"Bonnie!"

Sparks flew one last time before Bonnie fell to the floor. Rebecca couldn't tell if she'd only passed out or if she was no longer alive, but either way the doors opened quickly underneath the combined strength of Rebecca, Stefan, and Elena.

It occurred to her then that Damon hadn't even tried to help her get in. He'd just stood there and hadn't done anything. They all four went in now, Stefan and Elena going straight to Bonnie, Rebecca searching for Klaus, and Damon taking in all the damage.

"Stefan, she's not breathing!" Elena said as she checked Bonnie over. Elena took Bonnie into her arms and began crying.

Rebecca did not cry. She just felt anger. Anger at Bonnie for wasting her energy, for not controlling herself, because Rebecca knew she could, so why hadn't she? Now she was dead, and for what?

"Stefan, I can't find her pulse! Do something! Just give her blood, do something."

"It won't work if . . . if she's already dead," Stefan said, and knelt beside Elena, who had moved from crying to sobbing.

Rebecca's resolve hardened. She would find Klaus and find a way to kill him or capture him until they could. She had to do something. She began to take off, but someone caught her by the arm. Seeing as to how she'd wanted to speed away, it jarred her a little.

Not thinking, she let her vampire through and snarled at whoever had her. It was Damon. He quickly took a step back and held his hands up in surrender and to let her see there was no danger there. In her primal state, she might have considered him a threat had he not let her go.

"Where're you going?" he asked.

"To find him." She was surprised at the growly sound of her voice.

"And do what? You can't kill Ric, and you're not even on Klaus's kill list. Don't put yourself there."

"But Bonnie –"

"I know." Damon grabbed her then and pulled her close. It helped her relax in a way nothing else could. "Earlier you said you trusted me. I need you to continue to do that."

She nodded against his chest, suddenly finding herself unable to talk.

"We need to get Stefan and Elena out of here. We'll deal with Bonnie. The sheriff can't know about this. Last thing we need is another mysterious death."

Bonnie! They were going to have to bury her or burn her, and Rebecca didn't know if she could do that. She wasn't used to death being so personal.

"Jeremy," she muttered. "Jeremy! He – Bonnie –"

"We'll find him. We'll get him to meet us at the car."

"Okay," she hugged him once, hard. "Trusting you."

His hold on her tightened as well. It was a thank you.  
\----------  
Getting Elena to leave was hard. She wanted to cling onto Bonnie's body and Stefan had to pry her away. While Stefan did that, Damon texted Jeremy.

Rebecca and Damon, who was carrying Bonnie's body, ran to the Camaro, where Damon placed her in the trunk.

"We can't just leave her in there," Rebecca said. "It's –"

"She's dead," Damon said. "We can't put her in the backseat. Someone could see."

"Right."

Damon closed the trunk as Jeremy appeared.

"I got your message," he said. "I can't find anyone. Where's Elena? Where's Bonnie?"

Damon gestured for them both to get in the car. Rebecca and Jeremy listened.

"We need to have a little talk."

"About what?"

"Bonnie . . . She died." Before Jeremy could panic or get angry, Damon continued. "She died, but she's not going to stay dead. Bonnie had to die, and Klaus using Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that. He wasn't going to stop, and we weren't going to be able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it."

"What're you saying?" Jeremy asked.

"She cast a spell, and she'll come back to life. She'll be okay."

He watched as both Jeremy and Rebecca processed. Jeremy hadn't had time for grief to settle in so he didn't have to worry about that, and Rebecca had calmed down from the anger she'd been feeling.

"That's . . . that's why you couldn't tell me, why you couldn't tell anyone. It had to be real."

He nodded, thankful she'd understood so quickly. She might get angry, but she understood. It wouldn't be a problem between them.

"Where are we taking her?" Jeremy asked. "She can't be seen alive if . . ."

"The Old Lockwood place. No one ever goes there."

"Is it safe?" Jeremey asked. "The wood is kind of dry rotted."

"The spirits should protect her," Rebecca said. "Right? I mean, they warned her against the energy she had channeled, about how it could kill her."

"Right. I'm gonna stay with her. Jenna isn't at home, and Elena's at the boardinghouse, so I'm gonna stay with Bonnie."

"Now that Klaus believes Bonnie is dead, he'll probably come for Elena soon," Damon said. "If he stays in another human body, he doesn't even need an invitation. Ric came right on in this afternoon."

"Then we need to get back there as soon as we can," Rebecca said.

"Agreed," Damon said.

Apparently all they would have time to do was drop Bonnie and Jeremy off and get them settled in.

"They'll need food and water. Blankets. Bonnie can borrow some of my clothes until we have time to get hers. We'll stop by my house."

Okay, maybe they had to make time for that too.

"What does this have to do with Alaric?" Jeremy asked.

"Apparently Klaus can possess people," Rebecca said. "I don't know if that's an Original thing or if that's just a Klaus thing, but he got Ric."

"Is he – I mean, is he still alive . . . in there?"

"We think he's still alive, just trapped," Damon answered. "We will deal with that once we figure out how to defeat Klaus."

First they needed to get Klaus out of Ric's body – and if that wasn't one of the weirdest things Damon had ever thought, he didn't know what was.


	36. Chapter Thirty-Five

After stopping at Rebecca's to get some clothes and other essentials, such as food and water and blankets, Bonnie and Jeremy were dropped off at the old Lockwood property. Damon and Rebecca made sure the other two got through the wooded path and to the house. Bonnie still hadn't woken up, and Rebecca was beginning to worry. How sure were they that the spell was going to work anyway? It wasn't like Bonnie had used it before.

"She used up a lot of her energy taking Klaus on," Damon said. "She'll wake up when she's ready."

"Hm."

Rebecca helped set up a small nest type place for Bonnie to rest. It was big enough to hold both Jeremy and Bonnie.

"You call one of us when she wakes up, okay?"

"Absolutely."

"Good. I've gotta go. Damage control with Elena. I'll probably stay there tonight in case Klaus shows up. With Bonnie here . . ."

"Yeah. Don't, ya know, get permanently dead."

She scoffed. "Really not an issue. I like living too much to die."

She went outside to Damon – the witches spirits' still didn't want him inside for some reason – and they left.  
\----------  
Upon arriving at the boardinghouse they were confronted with a crying Elena. She and Stefan were in the living area, and she was holding a mug of hot tea in her hands.

"Where is she?" Elena asked, coming over to them. "What did you do to her?"

"Elena –"

"Tell me you didn't just burn her body or bury her."

"No, we –"

"You just took her!"

"Well, did you want us to leave her there?" Rebecca snapped. "Now hush and listen."

Damon explained it all better than Rebecca could have and, though Elena had tears streaming from her eyes, she was no longer hysterical or angry.

"Jeremy will call when she wakes up," Rebecca said.

Elena nodded. "This can't happen again. Bonnie won't die for me. I will not let that happen."

"I don't really think that's your decision," Rebecca said. "She just wants to protect you, protect everyone, really. You don't have the right to take that from her."

"Is that Rebecca talking or the Slayer?" Elena demanded.

"Both." Rebecca sighed. "We need to kill Klaus. If Bonnie is the only one that can do it . . . I mean . . . We no longer have the dagger, Elena, so Bonnie's the only weapon we have. I'm sorry for the grief you felt, but she is the only thing we can use against him. You know that."

Rebecca turned to go toward the stairs. She just wanted to go to bed. She needed to call her dad first, though, to let him know she wouldn't be home that night.

Damon followed her, as she knew he would, and she stopped once they were in their room.

"Friends are hard," she said. "Right now Caroline is the least stressful of all of them."

"Blondie. Who would've thought?"

"I know, right. I used to not be able to stand her for any long period of time, and now I think she's my favorite. I mean, Jeremy's disappointed because I took Bonnie's side in this. Her life, her decision, you know? And Elena's intent on making stupid decisions that will cost more than just her life, and no one appreciates how in the middle I am in all this! I mean, maybe Jeremy. If I side with Elena, people die. If I side with someone else, people die. So why not just do what I think is right and forget everything else?"

By the time she was done her voice had risen to the point of yelling. Maybe even Elena had heard it.

The anger and fight left her and she began to take her dress off, which wasn't hard. The dress wasn't tight and it was a little slip of a thing.

She flopped onto the bed with her phone and dialed her dad's number.  
\----------  
The night went by peacefully other than a few bumps. They happened frequently, so everyone thought it was just the house settling. The next morning, however, they found out that Elena had released Elijah from the cellar, had removed the dagger from his heart.

Elijah was no longer in the house. Neither was Elena. Once Rebecca found out, her face went even paler than it normally was.

"I – I told her last night that we needed another weapon against Klaus. We needed – did she leave the dagger?"

"Nope," Damon said.

"I tried calling her, and she didn't answer," Stefan said.

"Of course she didn't. She knows you'll try to get her to come back," Rebecca said. "Let me try."

She did, and Elena answered.

"Elena, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

She knew Stefan and Damon could hear both sides of the conversation. Stefan was relieved to hear Elena's voice. To be fair, so was Rebecca.

"Is Elijah with you?"

"Yes."

Rebecca heard the hesitancy in Elena's voice.

"You don't wanna say where." Rebecca sighed. "I'm gonna get dressed and I'm gonna start running. I'm faster than both Stefan and Damon. Text me in about three minutes with your location."

Neither Stefan nor Damon looked as if they appreciated that plan.

"I know Elijah can hear me. I know that he knows I can be trusted. He knows that I didn't want anyone to use the dagger on him. If it had been up to me, that wouldn't have happened. Let me meet you guys. It'll give all of us piece of mind if I'm with you."

There was a pause and then Elena was no longer on the line. Elijah was.

"Your terms are acceptable. I know you never wished for me to come to harm. You come alone."

"Not a problem."

"I assume I do not have to warn you against betraying me, Miss Stone."

"No, and you know I wouldn't do that."

"Yes. I remain uncertain about your friends, however."

She hesitated, looked at Stefan and Damon. Stefan would agree to whatever kept Elena safe. Damon, however, was already shaking his head. He didn't want her alone with Elijah.

"I'll be alone."

Damon shook his head even more adamantly once she hung up.

"What makes you think this is a good idea, or that he can be trusted?"

"He won't hurt me. That much I do know." She looked at Stefan then. "And as long as Elena doesn't do anything stupid he won't hurt her."

She went to get dressed. Damon followed her, and Rebecca knew they were either going to fight or walk away angry without having solved anything.

"You're really planning on doing this?" Damon demanded.

"Yes, Damon." She tried to remain patient as she pulled on a pair of jeans and picked out a shirt. "Part of you knows Elijah won't hurt me, and all of you knows we can't let Elena run this show. She means well, but she can be unbearably stupid."

He really couldn't argue with that.

"I will check in every hour. Besides, if I was heading into danger your spider sense would be tingling."

"That doesn't always work, not since you became a vampire."

And he was just worried. She knew that. And they hadn't started arguing with each other; that was something.

"It's always worked when it counted."

She grabbed his hands with her own and pulled him to her. She wrapped her arms around him.

"We really might need him, Damon. I know you don't want to believe that, but he can be useful."

"Hm. Or he could be vengeful."  
\----------  
"What're we doing here?" Elena asked as she pulled up to the front steps of the huge Lockwood mansion.

"I'm in need of a change of clothes. Let Miss Stone know she can meet us here."

Carol Lockwood met them at the door because she was on her way out, but Elijah compelled her to help him by finding one of her husband's old suits. Apparently she hadn't stored them away yet.

"How did you know she wasn't on vervain?" Elena asked once they stepped into the living room.

"I'm the one who convinced her to get off of it. Before you and your friends killed me. Twice."

Elijah headed towards the stairs where Carol had gone.

"I'll only be a moment," he said. "Don't forget to text Rebecca."

Elena did one better. She called Rebecca. Elena gave her their location and told her all the new information she'd learned, which wasn't much, to be honest. They now knew that Katherine was not the first doppelganger. Elijah had known someone when he'd been alive that had looked like Katherine. That was how Elijah and Klaus had known who she was.

"So they were pretty tight at one point," Rebecca said.

"Seems that way."

"Okay. I'll be there soon."  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse Stefan was on the phone with Jenna, who was wondering where Jeremy and Elena were. Stefan didn't know what to tell her. He knew Jenna hadn't been home in a few days, and, even if she had been, she wasn't in the know about anything.

"Elena's not here at the moment. Is everything okay?"

"I don't know. She left me all these weird messages telling me to stay away from Ric. What's going on?"

"It's really hard to explain over the phone, but she was hoping that you could stay on campus for a little while longer."

Ever since Isobel had visited Jenna hadn't been home. She'd been upset enough that Ric had been keeping secrets from her, but she hadn't been able to take the fact that his ex-wife had been alive and that pretty much everyone had known except for her.

"That's kind of hard to do from my kitchen."

"You're home?"

"Yeah. What's going on? Where's Elena? I'm supposed to meet Ric at The Grill for lunch to talk."

"Jenna, listen to me carefully. Whatever you do, do not meet Alaric at The Grill. I'm going to come over right now and I'll explain everything."

He hung up and looked at Damon, who was pouring himself a drink.

"Are you coming with me?"

"Nope. Got my own thing going. Gonna head to Ric's."

"You've never even been invited in."

Damon shrugged. "Don't need to get in. Just wanna check something."  
\----------  
Rebecca found Elena and Elijah seated in the living room of the Lockwood mansion. Elena didn't appear to have been harmed in any way, but Rebecca wasn't surprised.

The two had been talking about Katherine and about how Elijah doubted she was dead, because Klaus would want revenge for her running away and making him chase her all those years.

"I don't understand," Elena said. "You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still made Katherine pay for betraying him."

"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time . . . I'd have done anything for Klaus. He is . . . my brother."

"What?" Rebecca asked. She had not seen that one coming.

"Yes. I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is OMG."

"I'm assuming you guys didn't just pop into existence . . ." Rebecca prompted.

"You assume correctly," Elijah said. "My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe. Our mother bore seven children."

"So your parents were human?"

"Our whole family was," he said and stood up. He didn't pace frantically, but he did begin walking back and forth. "Our origin as vampires is a very long story. Just know . . . we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original family, and from us all vampires were created."

"Right, but –"

"Hold up," Rebecca said. "That's it? You're not going to tell us how you were created?"

"No," Elijah said. He almost smiled. "There's no reason to. It has nothing to do with why I'm here."

"You want Klaus dead," Elena said.

"Yes." Then, "I need some air. I'm feeling a tad . . . dead."  
\----------  
Damon knocked on Ric's apartment door when he reached it. This was gonna go one of two ways. Either Ric was going to be there still possessed by Klaus or Ric wasn't going to be there at all. If Ric was there - if Klaus was there – Damon had no delusions of coming out of this in one piece. There would be a fight.

But Klaus wasn't who he was after. Neither was Ric for that matter. He was after Katherine. He'd originally thought she'd been killed, but now that he knew that Klaus had gotten information before coming for them . . . Katherine had to be alive.

No one answered when he knocked, but he hadn't expected anyone to. Klaus would have compelled Katherine not to say anything if someone were to knock. The door wasn't locked, however, so he had no problem with the door. And there Katherine was. She didn't appear frightened; she seemed bored. Other than that she was the same old Katherine.

"Thought you might be dead," he admitted.

"Unfortunately not. What're you doing here?"

"Deciding whether or not you deserve to be rescued."

Damon had put some of his stash of vervain oil in a little vial in case he deemed Katherine deserving of it.

"Klaus was blending way too easily," he said. "Figured he probably had some coaching, and then I figured you still might be kicking."

He pulled the vial from his pocket and showed it to her.

"Is that . . ."

"Vervain. Your salvation."

"It's not going to undo anything."

"There's always a loophole." There usually was, anyway. They just had to find it. "Did he tell you to stay in this apartment until he said it was okay to leave?"

Katherine opened her mouth to answer, but quickly closed it as if she couldn't speak.

"You can't say. Did he tell you to do absolutely everything he says until the end of time?"

"No."

"There's your loophole. Drink this and prevent any further compulsion."

She stepped toward the door and reached a hand out for the vial, but she couldn't get out and he couldn't go in.

"Give it to me."

"Answer one question first. You double-crossed us with Isobel. Why?"

If Rebecca had been there she probably would've said something like 'Because she's Katherine.' She wouldn't have been wrong.

"I didn't think you could stand a chance against Klaus, so I was looking out for myself."

"And where did that get you?"

He tossed her the vial and she caught it easily.

"Be careful with that. If he finds out you have that, you're never getting out of here."

She opened the small battle and took a small sip. She grimaced as the liquid went down. Damon knew it burned.

"You owe me," he warned, "and I will collect."  
\----------  
While Damon was dealing with Katherine, Stefan was dealing with Jenna at the Gilbert residence. Jenna had been unharmed when Stefan had gotten there and she still was, but Klaus was there. He still had control of Alaric's body.

They were all in the kitchen, and Klaus was chopping vegetables at the counter. He was using a large kitchen knife.

"I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what's going on."

"Well, would you like to tell her, Stefan, or should I?"

"Tell me what?"

"Do you believe in vampires, Jenna?"

Klaus chuckled at the confused expression that made its place on Jenna's face.

"Well, who does, right? But believe it or not, they do have a place in our history. And as a history teacher, I find them fascinating."

"Why are we talking about this?"

"Well, you've been angry with me for keeping secrets, and this is one of my secrets, I'm obsessed with vampires." Klaus shrugged. "There. I said it."

"Are you joking?"

"Not at all." Klaus looked Stefan's way. "How about you, Stefan? Are you a fan of vampires?"

"In literature. Bram Stoker. It's dense, but I appreciate it."

"Hm. Did you know vampires are the oldest creatures of the night? Except for werewolves, of course."

"Werewolves?" Jenna rolled her eyes. "Werewolves. Now I know you're joking."

"You know, I've read that there's an Aztec curse on both species that keeps werewolves slaves to the moon and vampires bound by sun. Isn't that right, Stefan? You know they say these creatures would do anything to have this curse broken and that they wouldn't care who they had to kill to do it."

Klaus put the vegetables on a plate and put it on the table. They all three sat but no one touched the food.

"I know this all sounds so crazy, but . . . vampires are real."

"Get out," Jenna seethed. "I don't know what it is you're trying to do or why you're saying these things, but I want you to get out."

Klaus didn't move so Stefan stood up.

"You heard her."

"I'm afraid I don't want to."

"Fine. I'll go," Jenna said.

"You're not going anywhere."

When Jenna moved to get up Klaus moved to hold the knife against her neck, but Stefan was able to shove Klaus against the wall. He was even able to get the knife and place it at Klaus's throat.

"Stefan!" Jenna exclaimed.

"Jenna, get out of here. Now!"

She seemed too shocked to move even as Klaus said, "You can't kill me, Stefan."

"Watch me."

"I may not have a witch protecting me today, but if you kill this body, what's to stop me from choosing Jenna as my next one?"

"Jenna, go!"

He looked at her and allowed his face to change so she could see that, yes, vampires did exist. It took her only seconds to respond enough to run out of the house.

"Kill me," Klaus said. "Just remind Elena how easy it will be for me to get my revenge if she tries to stop me from breaking this curse."

Furious and frustrated, Stefan punched Klaus hard enough for him to double over. He shoved Klaus to the floor and took off after Jenna. He had damage control to do there.  
\----------  
At the Lockwood Mansion Elena, Elijah, and Rebecca were walking over the small wooden bridge over the pond in the back part of the Lockwood estate.

"As you've seen, nothing can kill an original. Not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned."

"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from."

"Yes. The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance."

"If the sun can't kill an Original, why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the Sun and Moon curse?" Elena asked.

Elijah smiled as if he knew a joke they weren't in on.

"The curse of the Sun and the Moon. It's all so . . . biblical-sounding, don't you think?"

"What d'you mean?"

"It's not real. Klaus made it all up so people would know to look for the Petrova doppelganger. Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting it in. Klaus is . . . quite the artist."

Neither Rebecca nor Elena spoke for the longest time. All this time they'd been worried about a curse that didn't even exist.

"Okay . . . Why make up a curse to find a doppelganger to break the curse that doesn't exist?" Rebecca asked.

"Easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelganger or to get your hands on some long lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout."

So Klaus still needed Elena and the moonstone for some reason, but not for what they'd originally thought.

"So . . . Klaus decided that part of the curse was whichever species broke the curse was the only one that would be set free . . ." Elena said. Rebecca could hear the uncertainty.

"Yes. Werewolves would have the ability to change whenever, the choice not to change at all."

"And vampires could go outside during the day," Rebecca said. "Not every vampire can get his or her hands on lapis lazuli."

"Exactly. Klaus and I faked the Sun and Moon curse dating back over a thousand years. The real curse is much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus. Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. You are his only hope."

Rebecca was going to ask what exactly that meant, but Elena's phone vibrated. All three of them heard it, and Elijah nodded his head to let her know she could answer.

The call lasted a minute tops. Stefan had called to let Elena know Klaus had come after Jenna. She was fine physically, but Stefan had lost control and Jenna now knew about vampires.

"I have to go to her."

"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement."

"She's my family, Elijah. I have to. I'll be back. You have my word."

"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it."

"Thank you."

"Tell Damon I'm okay," Rebecca said. She had tried calling him a few times because she'd been gone longer than an hour, but he hadn't answered. He was probably still angry with her. "I'll be home later."

"No problem."

After Elena left, Elijah turned to Rebecca.

"I suppose you want to know what the real curse is."

"Yes. In a minute."

"There's something else?"

"The reason you compelled me . . . You told me it wasn't safe for me to know you. What you meant was that it wasn't safe for Klaus to know I knew you. Right?"

"Klaus can be vengeful. If he gets upset with someone, you never know if he will take it out on that person directly or if he will go after the ones they care about."

"So it was to protect me."

"For the most part, yes."

"And the curse?"

"My family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus is from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages to this day."

Always quick on the uptake, Rebecca realized what that meant.

"Klaus's real father was a werewolf. How does that work? A werewolf's ability to change is triggered by killing someone, which Klaus has many times over. But . . . he's a vampire, right?"

"He's both. A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant. He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race, endangering not just vampires, but everyone."

"We have the dagger now," Rebecca said.

"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but the white oak ash on a silver dagger. So you see the conundrum. The dagger does not work."

"Are you saying Klaus can't be killed?"

"There's one way to kill any supernatural species . . . at the hands of the servants of nature themselves."

"Witches."

"The curse must be broken during the full moon when Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power can kill Klaus."

"We have one of those," Rebecca said. "She's . . . willing to die if it means Klaus will be stopped."

"You should know, then, that there may be a way to save Elena. I was going to do the same for Katerina, but she decided to run."

"You were going to save Katherine."

"I don't believe in unnecessary death. Klaus did not care one way of the other. He wants what he wants. He wants to be free of that curse. Everyone involved, everyone that has to die is just a means to an end to him. I told him about the solution and all he could say was that she was human, so her life meant nothing."

"He does know that all werewolves were once human, right? And that without sacrificing Elena's human life the curse can't be broken."

"Klaus sees love as a vampire's greatest weakness. He . . . chooses to block his feelings."

Great. He was one of those types. That could work to their advantage. As Klaus had said, love was a vampire's greatest weakness. Right then, Rebecca knew only one thing that Klaus cared about, and that was breaking this curse.

They just needed to find something he cared about more.  
\----------  
At the boardinghouse Elena was with Jenna in the library that sometimes doubled as a war room. Jenna was seated on the sofa, knees drawn up, arms wrapped around them. She was crying. Elena was sure it was from trauma and shock more than anything else.

The first thing Elena made sure Jenna knew was that Ric had not been the one to attack her, that Ric would never hurt her. They never meant to hurt her by lying and keeping things from her; they'd wanted to protect her from all of it.

"Ric wanted to tell you. I asked him not to. I'm sorry," Elena said. "If you're gonna be angry at someone, it should be me."

"When I was little, your mom used to tell me bedtime stories, stories about vampires. I never thought that what she said could be true."

"It is true, Jenna. I should have told you. I thought that if you didn't know, you'd be safe. But then things got so out of control and everything I had done to keep you out of it, it just blew up in my face."

"Who else knows?"

"Uh . . . Jeremy. He found out a few months ago."

Elena gave her a rundown of everything that had happened recently, everything she needed to know to keep herself safe. She didn't have time to start from the beginning because there was just too much to tell, and she needed to get back to Elijah.

Outside the library she met up with Stefan, who had been listening in because he wanted to know how Jenna was doing.

"She's in shock. I tried to tell her as much as I could, but I barely scratched the surface." She sighed. "I'm starting to think Rebecca was right about letting everyone know. Jeremy was angry when he found out I'd been lying, and Jenna is scared. If she'd known, she would've known about Klaus possessing Ric, and –"

"She would've known about me," Stefan said. "I never meant for her to find out that way."

"It's not your fault, Stefan. It's mine," she said. "Anyway, I have to get back to Elijah."

"What?"

"I promised him that I would return. I can't break that promise."

"Oh."

"I'll be back." She kissed him briefly. "I promise that too. And let Damon know Rebecca's okay. I was supposed to, but he's not here, so . . ."

"Will do."


End file.
